Bend sweep Nighthawks with a bang

Andrew Harbour contributed five of the Elks season high 15 strikeouts. (Sage Young)

Bend, OR - Bend ended its series against Northwest Star baseball with a bang, sweeping the Nighthawks 4-1 on fireworks night at Vince Genna Stadium.

The Elks built up an early lead and leaned on their arms to take them the rest of the distance.

Bend scored in each of the first two frames on a Ty Silva RBI knock and Andrew Guidara sacrifice fly. 

The Nighthawks worked one back across in the third on a Jayce Nagler RBI single. Nagler accounted for five of Northwest Star’s 11 total hits on the weekend.

But the Nighthawks would score no more runs beyond that as the Elks pitching staff shoved, striking out a season high 16 batters led by starter Ethan Lay who punched out six.

Bend would stretch its separation by a pair in the fourth on a Tyler Peterson hit that forced an error in center field, causing Guidara to come all the way home from first.

The next at-bat, Josh Wakefield plated Peterson on an RBI rope to right center, and the Elks swept away the rest of the game.

Bend will get back to West Coast League action Tuesday with a long road trip up to Joe Martin Stadium to face its first WCL North opponent of the summer, the Bellingham Bells. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. You can catch all the action on the Bells live stream or listen to the “Voice of the Elks” Blake Niemann on the Bend Elks Radio Network.

Box Score