MACON, Ga. (March 25, 2006) ? The University of South Florida softball team suffered a tough loss to Troy University, losing 17-5 in the semifinals of the Mercer Nissan Invitational Saturday night.

With the loss, the Bulls will play Siena College in the consolation game of the tournament on Sunday at 10 a.m.

The Trojans got their offense sparked in the third inning after the game was tied 1-1 and took the lead off a seven-run inning, 8-1.

Although Troy would never let the Bulls get close in the game, USF, down 9-1, avoided the five-run-rule loss thanks to two-run home run by Carly Griffin, 9-3.

After USF put two more runs on the board in the fifth inning, 9-5, the four-run deficit was the closet the Bulls would get to making a comeback, as Troy added eight runs to the board in the top of the seventh inning to get the 17-5 victory.

With the wind blowing steadily through the entire game, the ball carried early and often for both teams. The game featured a total of eight home runs ? five long-balls from Troy, two of which were grand slams, and three blasts over the fences by USF (Griffin, Christie Chapman, Danielle Urbanik). The three shots out of the park for the Bulls tied the team single-game record for home runs.

In total, there were 20 hits in the game for a combined 22 runs and six errors ? four coming from the Bulls.