TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sam Howard threw a complete game shutout to lead No. 4 seed Georgia Southern past No. 1 seed Florida State in a 7-0 win in game two of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional.
The win for Georgia Southern (40-21) was its first in regional play since a 6-2 win over Elon in the Clemson Regional in 2002 and the third for Rodney Hennon as the Eagles' skipper. With the win, GSU reached the 40-win plateau for the 10th time in school history and the third time under Hennon.
The shutout was the fifth on the season for the Eagles and the first on the season for Howard. The complete game was Howard's first of his career. Florida State fell to 43-16 and was shut out for the second time this season.
Kody Adams deposited the second pitch he saw into left field for a leadoff single and later scored the first of two Georgia Southern runs in the first on Aaron Mizell's double into the right-center gap. Garren Palmer drove in Mizell with a two-out single and was thrown out trying to score on Hunter Thomas' double to end the frame.
The Eagles added on to their lead with single runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Ben Morgan plated a second two-out run with a single to right field before Thomas doubled down the right-field line to score Stryker Brown in the seventh.
Howard (7-6) held Florida State to one hit over six innings and set down 15 straight batters from the second inning until D.J. Stewart led off the seventh with an infield hit. The left-hander tossed a career-high nine innings in his first career postseason start and did not allow a run on two hits. Howard walked four batters and struck out 10 for the third time this season.
Mike Compton tied his shortest outing of his career and went just 1 1/3 innings. Compton (7-3) allowed two runs on five hits and a walk.
The GSU bats tallied 10 or more hits for the fifth time in the last eight games and amassed nine extra-base hits the most since March 2 against Ohio.
Dalton Busby went 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and a home run and drove in two runs in the ninth inning. Busby and Garrett Chapman both homered over the left-field wall in the ninth. Mizell extended his hit streak to 11 games with a double in the first inning and went 2-for-5 on the day. Four other Eagles finished with two hits each.
Georgia Southern will face No. 3 seed Kennesaw State in the winner's bracket contest Saturday at 5 p.m. The Owls defeated No. 2 seed Alabama 1-0 in the early game on Friday. The Eagles faced KSU twice in the regular season and lost both contests.