TAMPA - Pitching has been a big story for the 24th-ranked University of South Florida softball team,  but Sunday afternoon, it was clutch hitting late in the game that stole the show.

Sophomore first baseman Stephanie Medina brushed off an inside pitch with two outs in the seventh, and dug in two pitches later to end the game on a walk-off home run, giving the Bulls (24-5 overall) a 2-1 comeback victory over No. 21 Florida State Sunday afternoon at USF Softball Stadium.

After stranding its first seven base-runners, USF scored the two that counted late in the game, tying the Seminoles in the sixth then winning in the seventh on Medina's line-drive, which struck the top of the fence in right and bounced over. It was Medina's fourth home run of the year, and second in as many days.

“Going into the at-bat, I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Medina said. “Then, when I saw it hit the fence, I was praying it wouldn't bounce back onto the field.”

It was a pitchers' duel early on, as sophomore Sara Nevins breezed through the first three innings, striking out six and not allowing a ball out of the infield. Florida State finally got to the lefty in the fourth, loading the bases on an error, walk and hit batter before scoring on a sharp single to right field.

The Seminoles tried to score the runner from second on the play, but a strong throw from senior Gina Kafalas in right field cut down the second run, ending the threat.

“We talked after the game about what the little things were that won this game,” Eriksen said. “Gina's throw keeping the game to one run in the inning was definitely one of those, and our entire outfield has been doing that for us this year. When the bats start swinging, I think we're going to be really tough to handle.”

The Bulls had scoring chances early on, putting runners in scoring position in the first and second innings. Sophomore first baseman Stephanie Medina doubled to left-center in the first inning, and senior outfielder Janine Richardson singled in the second. Both were stranded on second base, as the Seminoles bore down to get the final out in each situation.

USF put runners on first and second in the fifth with one out, but again left them out on the bases, stranding the team's sixth and seventh runners of the game.

In the sixth, the Bulls would end that run. Sophomore shortstop Kourtney Salvarola kicked up chalk as she laced a liner down the left-field line and into the corner for a leadoff double. Two batters later, Salvarola came home on a groundout, tying the game and igniting the crowd of 764.

“At that time I was just trying to get on base for the team, and let the people behind  me do their jobs and get me in,” Salvarola said. “Janine (Richardson) did her job getting me over, and Laura (Fountain) did hers to get me in, and we managed to tie things up.”

Nevins shut the door in the top of the seventh, setting up Medina's game-ending blast. A 2-1 pitch up and inside brushed the lefty back, but Medina stayed back and drove a pitch up in the zone into the grass beyond the fence in right, giving the Bulls their second win against a ranked team this season.

Medina finished with two hits, as did Richardson. Salvarola and Kafalas had the other two hits for the Bulls. Nevins went the distance in the circle, allowing three hits and striking out 11, allowing just one unearned run.

USF returns to action Monday, taking on Massachusetts-Amherst at 6:00 p.m. at the USF Softball Stadium.