GULF SHORES, Ala. – Down 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning to Houston on Sunday, the No. 23 University of South Alabama softball team recorded three singles to load the bases, and after Jaguar freshman second baseman Kaleigh Todd cut the deficit in half with an RBI groundout, sophomore Amanda Minahan delivered a two-out, two-run walk-off double to left field, securing a 3-2 USA victory in the final contest of the 2015 Sand Dollar Classic in Gulf Shores, Ala.
 
Before the final frame, South Alabama (3-2) had managed five hits, only two of which were hit in the same inning.
 
Freshman right-hander Devin Brown – who recorded her first collegiate start in an 8-0 Jaguar victory over Liberty on Friday – kept USA in the contest by striking out 11 Cougar batters, allowing only one earned run on six hits, while walking three. She moved to 2-1 on the year and finished the weekend with 29 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.
 
"Devin had a great day today. She gave us a chance to win the game," said USA head coach Becky Clark." That was a really gritty performance on her part. We weren't great in the beginning, but we figured it out – that's what great teams do, they figure out what they have to do to win, and they do it."
 
Senior shortstop Kaitlyn Griffith sparked the Jaguar comeback with a leadoff single through the left side. Senior catcher Alex Breeden followed suit with a single to right field, while senior first baseman Amanda Herron went through the left side to load the bags.
 
None of those players, including Minahan, had recorded a hit in the game until that point.
 
"It was a huge adrenaline rush to see Todd do her job and get a run in," said Minahan. "Coach told us not to look at the scoreboard, to just do our job. It started with Griffith. She did her job, and then everybody else did theirs."
 
Houston's Julana Shrum (1-1) took the loss after giving up three runs (all earned) on eight hits, while striking out five to a pair of walks in 6 2/3 innings.

Cougar leadoff Katie St. Pierre scratched Houston's first run across when she came in from third on Courtney Klingler's two-out RBI single. Houston doubled its advantage in the top of the fifth ona Jaguar fielding error, which allowed Selena Hernandez, who led the frame off with a triple, to round home.
 
The Jaguars outhit Houston, 8-6, in the contest. Senior left field Blair Johnson batted 2-for-3 on the day.
 
Minahan, Griffith, Herron and juniors Stephanie Pilkington and Emily Messer led South Alabama with four hits apiece over the weekend, in which USA bounced back from a 2-1 loss at home to No. 3 Alabama on Thursday with three wins in four game at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex.
 
South Alabama batted .340 at the Sand Dollar Classic and outscored its opponents, 16-4. Brown paced USA in the circle, going 2-1with a 0.43 ERA, a shutout and a save. She also held batters to a .143 batting average.
 
USA returns to action next weekend when it hosts the 2015 Mardi Gras Invitational, which will feature matchups versus Oklahoma State, Lipscomb, Butler and Evansville.
 
Links to live stats and radio broadcast via Jaguar All-Access, featuring play-by-play by Braden Cheek, can be found on the South Alabama softball schedule page shortly before first pitch. In-game Twitter updates are provided for each Jaguar softball via the program's official handle @USAJagsSoftball.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).