Landon Thibodeaux homered in the first inning Sunday and drove in six runs for Mohawk Valley in the DiamondDawgs’ 10-5 win over the Watertown Rams at the Duffy Fairgrounds.
Thibodeaux, who already has two four-RBI games for the DiamondDawgs, hit a three-run home run with two outs in the top of the first and gave Mohawk Valley a quick lead on the road. The DiamondDawgs never trailed as they improved their record to 6-2 on the road and 8-8 overall.
Southeastern Louisiana University right-hander Gavin Culpepper cruised to his second victory with a dominant start on the mound for the DiamondDawgs. The 6-foot-8 right-hander struck out 11 Rams and allowed one unearned run on two hits, one walk and two hit batsmen. He handed a 10-1 lead to the bullpen at the start of the eighth inning.
Watertown scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and one in the ninth.
Thibodeaux’s six runs batted in surpassed the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League’s single-game high for the season. Adirondack Trail Blazer Austin Hatfield drove in five runs against Watertown Thursday. Thibodeaux drove home two runs with a double in the fourth inning and picked up his final RBI in the sixth when he reached base on an error.
Casey Rodrigue drove in a run with a single to give Mohawk Valley a 4-1 lead in the third inning. He also led off the fifth inning with a home run.
Jordan Serena had two hits and two walks in the leadoff spot for the DiamondDawgs while Craig Lepre, batting second, had two hits and scored twice. Sam Dexter and Dalton Herringshaw also scored two runs.
Thibodeaux, an outfielder and third baseman from Louisiana State University-Eunice, has driven in 17 runs in 16 games to lead the DiamondDawgs. Fourteen of his runs batted in have come in the team’s three Sunday games.
J.J. Wagner had a two-run single in the eighth inning for Watertown.
Mohawk Valley had its first scheduled day off Monday and will be in action Tuesday at Veterans Memorial Park for a game against against the Adirondack Trail Blazers.