STATESBORO - Leanna Johnson hurled a four-hit shutout to lead Troy University to a 9-0 Sun Belt Conference softball victory over host Georgia Southern on Friday evening at Eagle Field.

The Trojans improved to 19-8 overall and 5-2 in the Sun Belt in taking the first game of the weekend series from the Eagles (7-16, 2-5 SBC). The two teams will continue their series with a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday.

In the bottom of the first inning, Ashleigh Duty and Faith Shirley led off the inning with back-to-back singles for Georgia Southern, but Johnson struck out the side, then did not give up a hit until a single by Ashlynn Gunter and a double by Olivia Creamer in the seventh. She improved to 12-4 on the season with the shutout, striking out 10 on the night.

The Eagles' Kastin Belogorska matched Johnson pitch-for-pitch until the fourth, when the Trojans got an RBI groundout to break the scoreless tie. Troy added three runs in the fifth as insurance, on a wild pitch, a Jade Sinness RBI single and a bases-loaded walk issued to Anslee Finch.

The Trojans tacked on five innings in the top of the seventh - highlighted by Finch's three-run home run - to cap the scoring.

Belogorska fell to 3-8 on the season, taking the loss in the circle for the Eagles. She gave up six hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings of work, striking out one.