By: Dana Becker 

Messenger Sports Staff 

The Iowa Central baseball team kicked off a 13-game homestand with a convincing 16-4 seven-inning victory over Iowa Lakes here Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Park.

While the sixth-ranked Tritons officially opened their home slate earlier last month with a last-second addition, this was the previously planned debut for Eric Stein and company.

Along with playing error-free baseball, Iowa Central (12-0 overall) belted out 16 hits on the day.

"We played fine overall," ICCC head coach Eric Stein said. "The biggest thing was we were able to get a bunch of guys in the game, which gives us more in-game evaluations that we can use moving forward.

"We've got a bunch of (anticipated matchups) coming up where we'll mix-and-match lineups to see what we can do."

Peter Johnson, Harrison Bowman and Jack Mausser all hit home runs on Tuesday, with Johnson, Bowman, Mausser, Jackson Tessman, Troy Berg and Will Smoot each driving in two.

The 16 runs scored are the most this season for the Tritons, who have plated at least 10 runs in a game six other times. Iowa Central scored in all but the opening frame, including a seven-run fifth.

"It's always nice to win games but we definitely have plenty we need to work on and improve upon moving forward," Stein said. "The No. 1 thing would be consistency. We really want to be more consistent as we move into the start of (ICCAC) play later this month."

Former Fort Dodge Senior High standout Jace Ulrich scored a run. Ten different players had at least one hit and 10 crossed home, with Mausser crossing home four times.

Johnson also had two steals on his day, with Mausser, Berg and Zakary Goodwin each swiping one.

CJ Byrdak pitched two innings in relief with three strikeouts to pick up the win on the mound. James Jefferson also had three strikeouts and Daiten Schmidt registered two.

A conference doubleheader with the Lakers is scheduled for April 3 back at Rogers Park, with a single nine-inning game on the docket for April 18 in Estherville.

Iowa Central returns to action Thursday with a single home game against Minnesota North-Hibbing at 1 p.m. The Tritons are slated to host Highland-Illinois for a three-game set beginning Saturday and concluding Sunday.

Weather perimitting, Iowa Central will also face Moberly Area and Lake Region State consecutively at home, with the conference opener versus Southwestern on March 20.

"Everybody is pretty excited to be at home for this coming stretch," Stein said. "The weather actually looks solid and we get off the bus for a while, which is always a bonus."