The Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs were back at home Monday night to face off against the Cooperstown Hawkeyes.  The Dawgs were looking to make it two wins in a row after beating the Albany Dutchman 3-2 Sunday night while Cooperstown was looking for its own win hoping to snap a two game losing streak.

Joe Perrotta (Lynn University) took the mound for the DiamondDawgs as Denis Buckley (Charleston Southern University) took the helm for the Hawkeyes.  Perrotta struggled early with his control and had trouble finding the  strike zone issuing five walks before settling down to go six innings and giving up four hits.

The Dawgs found themselves down 1-0 after the first inning; however designated hitter Eric Helmrich (Marist) stepped up in the bottom of the first and hit a 3 run shot over the left field wall to give the DiamondDawgs a quick 3-1 lead.  Perrotta found himself in trouble again in the second inning after issuing a walk but was let off the hook after a double play and escaped with Cooperstown scoring just one run.

Jesse Buratt (Baton Rouge CC) came on to relieve Perrotta in the seventh. The DiamondDawgs had several chances to tack on more runs only to leave bases loaded in the third and two more stranded in the fourth.  The Cooperstown starter was relieved in the sixth when Andrew Grann (SUNY New Paltz) entered the game. However, Mohawk Valley took advantage in the seventh after Chris Cruz (Cornell) singled, Jack Morrow (Young Harris) walked and Jonathan Scott (Bryant University) singled to score a run to give the Dawgs a 4-2 advantage.

The Hawkeyes headed into the ninth inning down 4-2 seeking a rally.  The DiamondDawgs used pitchers Raymond Morton (Norfolk State) and Salvatore Lisanti (Bryant) in the ninth in hopes of preventing a last inning rally. However, the rally began after Coleman Barron (Davidson) struck out, Chris Robinson (Louisburg) was hit by a pitch and Josh Ingham (Central Connecticut State) smashed a single.  Anthony Simon (Mercy College) reached on a fielder’s choice that knocked in Robinson making it 4-3.  Matt Carr (SUNY Paltz) then reached on an error by third baseman Joe Carcone (Bryant) and Ty Morris (Cal State Monterey Bay) followed with a single that scored Simon. Tyler Mautner (Buffalo) finished the rally when he singled in Carr for the go ahead run and the 5-4 lead.

Josh Ingham, who started at second base for the Hawkeyes came on in the bottom of the ninth and shut down the DiamondDawgs and secured the comeback and victory for Cooperstown with a 5-4 win.

With the loss Mohawk Valley drops to 2-3 while Cooperstown evens up their record at 2-2. The winning pitcher for Cooperstown was Andrew Grann (SUNY Paltz) and Raymond Morton (Norfolk State) took the loss for Mohawk Valley.  The DiamondDawgs travel to Albany to meet the Dutchman on Tuesday before returning home again on Wednesday to face off against the Glens Falls Golden Eagles at 7:05.