CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Cal State San Marcos fell 5-3 to the No. 1 seed Saint Leo in its second game of the NCAA Softball Championships.
 
The Lions scored three runs in the top of the first and would never surrender the lead. Solo home runs by CSUSM's Jillian Albayati in the first and third frames cut Saint Leo's lead to 3-2 after three. A wild pitch would allow Jordan Munn to come in from third to score and tie the game at 3-3 in the fourth.
 
The game would remain tied until the eighth inning when SLU put its first four runners on base, pushing across two runs for the 5-3 lead. Czar Fleischman singled in the bottom of the eighth, but the Cougars were unable to mount a rally.
 
Albayati finished with two home runs and was the only CSUSM student-athlete with multiple hits. Abigail Hynes went 2-for-4 with a double, RBI, and runs scored to lead Saint Leo.
 
Hailey Shiflett pitched a scoreless 5.1 innings for CSUSM in relief, allowing just four hits. Alex Wright (14-0) earned the win for SLU.
 
Cal State San Marcos falls into the elimination bracket. It will play on Saturday, May 30, at 3:30 p.m. PST against the winner of the Glenville State-University of North Georgia game.