ALBANY - A five-run eighth inning lifted the Amsterdam Mohawks to a 9-3 win over the Albany Dutchmen in a Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League game Wednesday at Bob Bellizzi Field.
The win was the fourth straight for the first-place Mohawks and also their 14th out of their last 15 as they improved to 15-3 overall.
Amsterdam pushed its lead in the PGCBL standings to four games over second-place teams Newark and Oneonta.
Amsterdam is rated 11th in the nation in the latest national Summer Collegiate Baseball League poll.
Albany's loss on Wednesday night dropped them out of a fourth-place tie to a record of 8-10. It was a frustrating loss for the Dutchmen who had designs of pulling off their first win of the year over Amsterdam. The Dutch are 8-5 against the rest of the league but have gone 0-5 against the Mohawks this year.
Amsterdam was down 3-1 in the seventh inning and 3-2 in the eighth before rallying. Josh Nethaway (Albany) had the game-winning RBIs on a two-run single into center in the eighth that gave Amsterdam the lead at 4-3 and sparked the five-run surge.
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Matt Gage (Siena) came out of the bullpen to fire four innings of one-hit, shutout ball with seven strikeouts on his way to becoming the first pitcher in the PGCBL to reach four wins. The Gloversville native now has a season punchout total of 32 to rate second in the league.
Cody Tollison (Middle Tennessee State) was equally impressive as the starter for Albany in preserving his team's lead as he lasted 6 1/3 innings while striking out nine. He allowed an RBI triple in the third to Evan Stephens (Wake Forest) in the third inning when the Mohawks took the initial 1-0 advantage, but after that, retired the next 10 Amsterdam batters in a row on his way to a nine strikeout evening.
Trailing 3-1 in the seventh, the Mohawks would be able to get back into the game against the Dutchmen bullpen. Chase Green's (SIU-Edwardsvville) RBI double scored Jeff Boehm (Kentucky), who had singled, making it 3-2.
And then the five-run eighth off a pair of Albany hurlers would push the Mohawks in front.
It was a frustrating night for an Albany team who had the lead for most of the game as it was aiming for its first win against the top team in the league.
Amsterdam is back at home today against the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs. Taylor Martin (Kentucky, 1-1, 3.86 ERA) is scheduled to start for Amsterdam.
Albany is off today and then travels to Cooperstown on Friday. The next home game for the Dutchmen is Sunday at 5 p.m. against Glens Falls.
Saturday is Night at the Beach with the Amsterdam Mohawks, as Shuttleworth Park will be turned into a waterpark with a water-slide and slip-and-slide and more.
Waterpark Day begins at 4 p.m. And the Mohawks game against Watertown that night will be at 7 p.m.
It is anticipated that Mark Leiter Jr. (NJIT) will make his first start of the season for Amsterdam in the Saturday game. He was a PGCBL All-Star selection last year while setting an all-time Mohawks record for strikeouts.
Amsterdam 9, Albany 3
Amsterdam001 000 152 - 9 9 2
Albany000 030 000 - 3 4 2
WP - Matt Gage (4-0); LP - Ricky Schaefer (1-1).