The Bellingham Bells’ pitching remains stingy, allowing just one run for the second straight game, in a 3-1 win over the Springfield Drifers Thursday night at Joe Martin Field. All three of the Bells’ runs were scored in the fourth inning, headlined by shortstop Ty Saunders’ RBI double to take the lead.

Ryan Beitel pitched five innings, striking out four and allowing one run for a Bells pitching staff that continues to dominate. Aaron Barokas took over for the sixth and seventh, notching three strikeouts, and Cameron Dayton finished the Drifters off in the eighth and ninth.

Dayton, who hit cleanup for the Bells in the first two games of the series, struck out four of the six batters he faced in a stellar outing.

The entirety of the scoring for both teams took place in the fourth, initiated by an RBI single by Drifters’ outfielder Nolan Sparks to put them up 1-0. In the bottom of the inning, Bells third baseman Jo Stevens reached first on a fielder’s choice, then scored on a ground ball hit by catcher Willis Cresswell. Saunders followed it up with his second double of the game to score Cresswell, then crossed home plate himself on a sacrifice fly by Elijah Hainline to make it 1-3.

“Our pitching has carried us, and it’s been awesome to play defense behind them,” Saunders said after the game.

With this win, the Bells emerged victorious in the season-opening series against the Drifters, who won the first game 4-2 on Tuesday night. Beitel took the win for the Bells, who improve to 2-1 on the  season, while Drifters pitcher James Boon got the loss as Springfield drops to 1-2.

The Bells look to carry the momentum into their next series against the Portland Pickles, with the first game taking place at 6:35 PM Friday night at Joe Martin Field.