DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - It was an evening of firsts at Sliwa Stadium on Friday night as the 13th-ranked Embry-Riddle Eagles earned their first-ever win as an NCAA II ranked team, shutting out visiting Nova Southeastern, 3-0. The Eagles (11-3, 3-1 SSC) also snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Sharks (6-9, 2-2 SSC), grabbing their first win against NSU since 2002. Garrett Goodall and Joe Balsam combined to shutout the Sharks, stranding 10 NSU baserunners, while the offense did enough against JP Williams and Jacob Bove to start the league series off with a victory.

Goodall and Williams matched scoreless half-innings early on, but in very different ways. Goodall did it by leaving Sharks on the bases, including two each in all three of the first three frames. The junior right-hander danced out of trouble in the first after the first two batters reached safely, getting a pair of fly outs and then a foul out he caught himself to end the inning. Goodall did it again in the second with runners at second and third with one out, inducing a ground ball that kept the runners from advancing and then a line out right to Josh Reynolds at first to end the threat.

Embry-Riddle scratched across a run in the third when Kyle Guttveg beat out an infield single with two away to keep the inning alive, and then got a tremendous jump on a base hit from Mike Lawson that dropped just inside the foul line in right, allowing Guttveg to score all the way from first for a 1-0 ERAU lead.

Goodall went three-up, three-down in the fourth for the first time in the contest, and he and Williams held their opposing offenses in check throughout the rest of their outings. Goodall escaped another jam in the sixth thanks to the arm of Cody Forster at short. After a two-out double and wild pitch, the Sharks had the tying run at third, but a ground ball deep in the hole at short was expertly back-handed by Forster and the senior showed off the arm with a bullet to first to get the final out of the inning.

In the seventh, it was Andrew Martinez helping out his pitcher, making a sliding catch in shallow left with a runner at third to preserve the 1-0 Eagle lead.

Joe Balsam took over for Goodall in the eighth inning, and he, like Goodall, worked around some traffic after a leadoff single started the inning. Balsam got a ground ball for a fielder's choice for the first out, but a throwing error allowed the runner to reach second. Balsam worked an easy fly ball to left and then another ground ball to first to end the inning and keep ERAU in front, 1-0.

The home team added some big insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth when Bove relived Williams, starting with a one-out double from Forster. Guttveg singled up the middle on a ball that just got under the glove of the NSU second baseman, scoring Forster from second and doubling the Eagle lead. A wild pitch pushed Guttveg to second before he touched home on a Luis Olivier double to deep right field, making it 3-0 in favor of the Blue and Gold.

Balsam, working with a 3-0 lead, faced four batters in the top of the ninth, never allowing the tying run to come to the plate, and ending the game with a ground ball to second.

Goodall (W, 3-2) went 7.0 innings, allowing six hits with four strikeouts, while Balsam (S, 1) picked up his first career save in two innings of relief. Williams (L, 0-2) was the tough-luck loser for NSU, allowing one run on five hits with five Ks.

Guttveg and Lawson each finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Guttveg scored twice.

The Eagles and Sharks meet up tomorrow for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Sliwa Stadium.

Notes
• March 16, 2002 was the last time the Eagles beat Nova Southeastern prior to Friday evening
• Goodall grabbed his 14th career victory
• The Eagle pitching staff has three shutouts already through 14 games of 2020, matching last season's total
• The win marked the first Eagle win as a ranked team since May 26, 2015 when the Eagles, ranked 16th in the NAIA, knocked off No. 19 Concordia (Calif.) at the NAIA World Series