TROY, Ala. ? The University of South Alabama softball team took the Sun Belt Conference series finale versus Troy Sunday afternoon with a 6-2 victory over the Trojans at the Trojan Softball Complex.  With the win, USA wins the three-game series.

The Jags (36-21, 12-11 SBC) will now head to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to compete at the 2007 Sun Belt Conference Tournament beginning Wednesday.  USA will be the fifth seed in the conference tourney and will take on fourth-seeded Middle Tennessee in the first round.  Troy drops into the third seed with the loss and falls to 39-19 overall and 15-9 in the SBC.

South Alabama jumped out to the early 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the first.  With two outs in the inning, Tara Donaldson lined a double that rolled to the wall in right center to give the Jags the one run lead.  Jag centerfielder Evelyne Pare, who had singled and stole second earlier in the inning, came around to score on the Donaldson hit.

USA pushed its lead out to 2-0 with another run in the third.  Pare came around to score for the second time when Jag first baseman Corey Race singled to left with two outs.  Pare reached earlier in the inning when she dropped a one out double just inside the left field line.

Ashley Elmore kept the Jag offense going the next half inning when the junior outfielder recorded her fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot that just got over the top of the wall in left center.  Jag shortstop Carolina Mendoza singled to start the inning and came in on the Elmore shot to put USA up 4-0.

The Jags also added runs in the fifth and sixth innings.  USA got its run in the fifth courtesy of a Katie McGuire RBI triple to right center, and then Pare recorded an RBI double in the sixth.

Troy ended the shut out attempt with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth.  With two outs, Heidi Johnson and Courtney Davis recorded back-to-back RBI singles to trim the Jag advantage to 6-2 with one inning to play.  That was as close as the Trojans got the rest of the way, as Beth Pilgrim came in relief and pitched a scoreless seventh.

Linden Jones (20-10) picked up the win for USA, while Angela Lopez (18-8) took the loss for Troy.  Jones held Troy to just five hits and struck out seven on the afternoon.

Pare finished the day 4-for-4 at the plate for the Jaguars, scoring two runs and driving in one.