CRESTON — Nolan Johnson earned his first career win and the Iowa Central baseball team downed Southwestern here Tuesday, 13-6.

Johnson — a Southeast Valley graduate — worked the first four innings, allowing five hits and one earned run with two strikeouts and no walks.

“It felt good to get the win,” Johnson said. “But I was only able to because of the talent of the rest of the team and coaching staff.”

The Tritons provided him with plenty of run support, scoring five in the third and two more in the fourth to build a commanding 7-1 lead.

Devin Porter was 5-for-6 at the plate with a home run and three RBI, Alberto Ortiz had three hits and drove in four with a homer. Eddy Noguera also collected three hits.

Romel Martinez, a former Webster City standout, and Jack Sievers had six hits, two RBI and three runs from the No. 8 and 9 spots in the lineup.

Johnson worked around a tough situation in the third, as Southwestern put runners on first and third with no outs. He induced two flyball outs and a grounder to end the threat.

The right-hander faced 18 batters and threw 62 total pitches, with 45 of them going for strikes.

“I tried my best to limit balls and not give up any free passes,” Johnson said. “It meant a lot to have the trust of the coaches to start the game and it felt really good that they had faith in me.”

Johnson came into the game having made three appearances for Iowa Central with four strikeouts, one walk, three hits and three earned runs allowed in just over three innings.

At Southeast Valley, Johnson went 13-6 with 171 strikeouts in 148 innings over his four-year career. That included a career-high 63 strikeouts last season.

Zach Shadlow picked up four strikeouts in four innings of relief work for Iowa Central, which has now won five in a row and 13 of 17 overall.

The Tritons return to action on Friday when they face off against Des Moines Area in Boone for four games over two days.

IOWA CENTRAL 13, SOUTHWESTERN 6

Iowa Central 005 201 230 — 13 19 1

Southwestern 100 130 001 — 6 11 2

WP–Nolan Johnson (4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 K, 0 BB). LP–Matt Smith (6 IP, 11 H, 8 ER, 3 K, 7 BB).

HR–ICCC: Alberto Ortiz, Devin Porter; S: Cade Cox. 3B–ICCC: Cullen Weiss. 2B–ICCC: Eddy Noguera (2); S: Jadriel Pantoja, Raul Cosme. RBI–ICCC: Alberto Ortiz (4), Devin Porter (3), Lyle Fini, Cullen Weiss (2), Jack Sievers (2); S: Quentin Sefrit (2), Ryan Doran, Jadriel Pantoja, Cade Cox. SB–S: Frank Sanchez (2).