AUBURNDALE, FLA. —  A big second inning sparked the Central College baseball team's offense to an 11-6 victory against Emerson College (Mass.) Tuesday night.

Central (4-6) raced out to an 8-1 lead against Emerson (3-3) courtesy of seven runs in the second inning. After starting the inning with a single, the next four Dutch batters were hit by pitches. Center fielder Max Steinlage (sophomore, Cedar Falls) drove in two on a single before right fielder Colton DeRocher (senior, Sioux City, East HS) and catcher Dom DeLaPaz (junior, Davenport, West HS) went back-to-back with home runs.

DeRocher finished the day with a double, a home run and two RBI. Steinlage also had two hits and drove in three total runs.

"Colton's home run was huge today," coach Adam Carey said. "It was nice to see him put some good swings on the ball. Steinlage was very productive today. It was fun to watch him play."

Brayden Sawyer (sophomore, Grundy Center) got his first start on the mound and put together a strong debut. He gave up one earned run, scattering seven hits. He struck out five and walked none of the 32 batters he faced.

"Brayden stepped up and pitched very efficiently in his start," Carey said. "He had strikes on 77% of his pitches, which is impressive. He stayed in the zone all day and competed with what he had."

Andrew Doyle struck out two and yielded a pair of unearned runs in the eighth before Bryce Haessig completed a scoreless final frame.

"Doyle came in a did a good job filling it up," Carey said. "It was good to see Bryce come in and close it out like he did."

Central has a day off in Florida Wednesday before returning to the field Thursday at 1 p.m. EDT to face Salem State University (Mass.).

"Today showed that we have plenty to be excited about but also some things to work on," Carey said. "We need to build on that after our day off tomorrow."