SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- No. 4 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills shocked top-seeded Cal State San Marcos with a come-from-behind 2-1 win to open Championship Saturday behind a 7th-inning solo home run by
Savanna Kastigar to force a winner-take-all game, but the host Cougars regrouped with a 4-0 win in the deciding game to advance to the NCAA West Region Super Regional next weekend, where they will host No. 6 seed Biola, which upset No. 2 Cal State East Bay in the other sub-regional.
The Toros end their 2026 campaign with a 39-24 record, with seven All-CCAA selections and All-Region and All-America awards to be announced in the coming weeks.
The host Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the bottom half of the second inning, with CSUSM starter Daleah Cardenas two hits over the first five innings of play.
That all changed in the sixth as
Makayla Bishop led off the frame with a double, with
Ashley Goodale moving her to third on a sacrifice bunt. After a pitching change and subsequent ground out,
Torie Au tied the game on an RBI single, one of her two hits in the game, bringing momentum to the Cardinal and Gold.
That momentum grew larger in the next inning as Kastigar launched her team-leading sixth home run to dead center, sending shockwaves throughout the CSUSM Softball Field.
That was just enough for starter
Audrey Gallegos, who survived the bottom of the seventh after a leadoff single and one-out walk put runners on first and second, before a foul out to right field moved the runners up to second and third.
With their season on the line, Gallegos induced a lineout to second base for the stunner, sending the teams to a winner-take-all match-up.
In the decisive game, however, San Marcos showed why it sits at No. 3 in the nation, using a first-inning homer and three runs in the third to take control of the game. Â
The Toros mustered just three hits over the first five innings, but mounted a rally in the sixth, placing runners at first and second with one out.
CSUSM, however, induced a fielder's choice out at second base before getting Kastigar to fly out to end the threat.
A two-out walk in the top of the seventh inning gave the Toro one last glimmer of hope, but a full count infield ground out set off a Cougar celebration.
Gallegos took the loss in 3.0 innings of work, with
Ashley Ogata tossing 3.0 innings of two-hit relief in her final appearance as a Toro.
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