[Box score]

The Cal State San Marcos softball team fell in its opening game at the 2023 NCAA Softball Championships to the tournament's No. 1 seed, UT Tyler, 5-1.
 
The Cougars jumped on the Patriots with a run in the first inning when Mackenzie Kestler's two-out RBI single scored Makenzie Guiliano from second base.
 
Cal State San Marcos held the lead until the third inning when the Patriots tied the game on a solo home run by Sam Schott before taking the lead on a run-scoring hit by cleanup batter Michelle Arias.
 
UT Tyler extended its lead to 5-1 with a three-run fifth. After the first two batters of the inning reached on a triple and an infield double, Courtney Plocheck plated them both with a double into the gap before coming in to score on a single.
 
Five of the Patriots nine hits went for extra bases. All seven of the Cougars hits were singles. The top three hitters in the lineup for UTT combined to go 6-for-10 with three doubles, a triple and a home run. They also scored five runs.
 
This was the first loss of the NCAA postseason for Cal State San Marcos, which had not lost a game at NCAA regionals or super regionals. The Cougars will return to the field Saturday at 8 a.m. to face Wilmington.