MOBILE, Ala. – University of South Alabama softball completed a three-game Sun Belt Conference sweep of Troy on Senior Day Sunday at Jaguar Field with a 7-0 victory over the Trojans to close out the 2016 regular season.
 
USA (32-16, 16-6 SBC) went up, 3-0, before freshman left fielder Haleigh Lane supplied a grand slam for the final winning margin. The home run was the first of Lane's career.
 
South Alabama will be the two-seed in the 2016 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which takes place at Jaguar Field on May 11-14. Ticket and schedule information can be found by accessing the tabs on the Jaguar softball webpage.
 
Senior third baseman Emily Messer went 3-for-4 on Sunday with an RBI and a run scored, setting a new South Alabama single-season record in hits with her 72^nd to lead off the bottom of the sixth. The Mobile, Ala., native is currently seven runs away from another season record.
 
Sophomore right-hander Devin Brown surpassed the 300-strikeout mark on Sunday – she currently has a school-record 308 this year – and recorded her 11^th shutout in 2016, another single-season program record. Brown picked up the win, improving to 20-10, after striking out 12 to no walks with only two hits allowed in the complete-game effort. It was her 19^th double-digit strikeout performance in 35 appearances this year.
 
Lane set a new career high in RBI with four on the grand slam in the sixth inning. The Jasper, Ala., native finished 3-for-4 on the day with a run scored to boot. Freshman right fielder Megan Harris recorded the first multi-hit game of her career after going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
 
Sophomore second baseman Kaleigh Todd finished 2-for-4 with a run, and classmate Kristian Foster went 1-for-3 with a run and RBI. Freshman designated player Dayla Gulledge went 1-for-1 with two runs scored and a walk and got dinged twice.
 
Junior outfielder Amanda Minahan went 1-for-3 with a walk, as all but two Jaguars recorded hits on Sunday, combining to outhit the Trojans (30-23, 11-12 SBC), 13-2. USA was one hit short of tying its season high.
 
USA took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on Messer's two-out, RBI single, which scored Foster, who drew a one-out walk. The Jaguars added two more to go up, 3-0, on four consecutive base hits an inning later. Gulledge led off with a return up the middle too hot for Troy pitcher Rachel Rigney to handle, before Lane's bunt single.
 
Minahan drove a base hit to right field to load the bags, and Foster singled to left to score Gulledge, doubling USA's lead. Harris then dropped one into right center to plate Lane for a three-run Jaguar lead.
 
Back-to-back singles from Messer and Todd and another pitch off the ribs for Gulledge filled all stations for Lane, and the frosh sent a screamer over the right-field wall to empty the bases and put the Jags up, 7-0.
 
Brown struck out three of the final four batters she faced to cap the victory.
 
Rachel Rigney took the loss for Troy, falling to 1-2, after giving up seven runs (all earned) on 13 hits with three walks and no strikeouts.
 
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJagua,rSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).