IRVINE, Calif. -  The Concordia University Irvine softball team definitely left it all out on the field on Friday at the 2023 NCAA DII West Super Regional.

It just unfortunately was not meant to be.

CUI was on the verge of forcing a winner-take-all game three against Cal State San Marcos on Friday and held a 3-1 lead through five innings of game two.  After losing the opener this week on Thursday to the Cougars, the Golden Eagles bounced back and looked extremely focused on the task at hand.

Daniela Alvarez struck out seven batters and only allowed four hits over five innings of work. In the third inning, Kaia Nisby scored the first run of the game by hustling home from first base on a RBI double from Megan Massa.  CUI expanded that margin to 3-0 later in the third when Mary Baccay brought Massa home with a RBI single and then she scored after Rylie Rohr reached on an error.

It was still 3-1 after Kaia Nisby made one of the highlights of the entire season with a great grab along the warning track. She jumped and robbed All-Region slugger Paige Donnelly of a home run by leaping at the wall and bringing a ball back to end the fifth.

Unfortunately, the Cougars caught lightning in a bottle in the bottom of the sixth.  They scored twice with nobody out on a wild pitch to tie the game 3-3.  Then Madison Waymire smacked a solo home run that would ultimately prove to be the game-winning run.

Savannah Coyle relieved starter Jayline Sloss to save the game for the Cougars who advanced to the World Series as the West Region representative.

Concordia has reached the Super Regional three times in the NCAA DII era over the past six seasons but never made it to the World Series.  The previous two winners of the West region - Biola and Cal State Dominguez Hills - both went on to finish as the national runner-ups at the World Series.

Concordia concludes the 2023 season as PacWest Conference champions for the fourth consecutive season.  CUI also won the first PacWest Conference Tournament held in over two decades and finished in fifth place in the standings for the fifth straight time (this includes the shortened 2021 season where pod play was used and no league champion is officially recognized).

CLICK HERE for a look back at the full CUI softball schedule