GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of South Alabama softball opened the 2016 Aquafina Invitational with a 7-3 win over Florida A&M on Friday behind Devin Brown's career-high 17 strikeouts and a five-spot in the third inning.
 
USA (9-6) takes on Illinois State and No. 1 Florida on Saturday at 8:45 a.m. and 11 a.m., respectively. Links to live stats and play-by-play audio, provided free of charge, can be found by accessing the Jaguar softball schedule page.
 
In-game Twitter updates are provided for each USA contest via the program's official handle, @USAJagsSoftball.
 
Brown topped her previous career-high strikeout total of 15, recording the second-most strikeouts in a single game in South Alabama program history and tying for the most thrown by any NCAA Division I student-athlete this season. She moved to 5-4 with the win with three runs allowed (all earned) and four walks.
 
All but one South Alabama student-athlete recorded a hit in Friday's contest, as the Jaguars outhit Florida A&M, 11-3, on the day. Stephanie Pilkington led the way on 3-for-4 hitting with three RBI and a run scored. Emily Messer went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.
 
USA tagged FAMU starter Veronica Burse for six runs through two-and-a-half innings, but struggled to adjust to reliever Tahli Snider, as Snider held USA hitless for two innings, and the Rattlers chipped back with a run apiece in the third and fourth frames.
 
"I was happy with the way we started, offensively," said USA head coach Becky Clark. "We were aggressive, and we hit some balls hard. We got a couple big hits when we needed to, and we got the big inning, which we talk a lot about.
 
"I wanted to see us make an adjustment to the second pitcher quicker – that's something we're continuing to talk about and get better at. Devin had a really good night on the mound, with the exception of four walks."
 
The teams traded a run apiece in the sixth inning.
 
USA got on the board in the second inning when Haleigh Lowe, in her first start since Feb. 14, scored on a FAMU error.
 
The Jaguar hit parade in the third inning began with Pilkington's two-run single through the right side, which plated Emily Messer and Kaleigh Todd. Kristian Foster then doubled to right center to score Pilkington, and Alex Breeden singled to bring Foster around for a 5-0 USA lead.
 
Messer drew a bases-loaded walk to score Haleigh Lane to put the Jags ahead six runs.
 
FAMU's Jessica Nathan tripled to center field to score Whitney Farris, as the Rattlers got on the board in the bottom of the third, and Alexis Day singled to right in the fourth inning to score Farris again to cut the Jags' lead to four runs.
 
Another Pilkington base hit through the right side scored Messer, as USA took a 7-2 lead in the top of the sixth, but Kieifi Myrick canceled the USA run out when she scored on a wild pitch a half-inning later.
 
Burse took the loss for FAMU after giving up six runs (five earned) on nine hits with a walk in 2 1/3 innings. Snider scattered a pair of Jaguar hits for one run (earned) in 4 2/3 relief innings.
 
South Alabama moved to 2-0 all-time versus Florida A&M with Friday's win.
 
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).