Jordan Elias scored from second base on a throwing error with one out in the ninth inning Thursday to give Cal State San Marcos a come-from-behind, 5-4 victory over West Texas A&M in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Softball Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Fourth-seeded CSUSM (56-10) will play top-seeded Saint Leo (50-3-1) at 9 a.m. Friday in the winners’ bracket of their four-team, double-elimination pool.

West Texas A&M scored three runs in the top of the eighth Thursday in the first extra inning. But the Cougars tied the score with three runs in the bottom of the inning.

Pinch-hitter Kaila Siu drew a one-out walk on a full-count pitch and scored when Czar Fleischman doubled to center. Sarah Bull then tied the game with a two-run home run down the line in left that hit the foul pole.

Elias singled leading off the bottom of the eighth and was sacrificed to second by Marissa Morales. Elias was continuing on to third when she drew a wild throw to score the game-winning run.

“That’s two straight, extra-inning wins in a row for us,” said CSUSM coach A.J. Robinson. “Nothing comes easy at this time of the year.”

Fleischman was 2-for-4 with two runs scored an an RBI. Bull hit her third home run of the season. Alizabeth Ruiz had the other RBI for the Cougars.

Dalaeh Cardenas started for CSUSM and gave up four runs on eight hits and four walks with a strikeout in 7 1/3 innings. Jordan Hill gave up two hits with a strikeout in 1 2/3 scoreless innings to earn the win.

PLNU baseball to open play in N.C.

Sixth-seeded Point Loma Nazarene (49-11) opens pool play in the NCAA Division II baseball championships at 10:30 a.m. Saturday against third-seeded Catawba (47-12) in Cary, N.C.

Left fielder Tristan Moore, a San Diego native who grew up in the U.S. Virgin Islands, leads the Sea Lions’ offense with 17 home runs and 77 RBIs. Seven PLNU regulars are hitting over .300, and seven have 40 or more RBIs. PLNU also has four starting pitchers and a deep bullpen featuring designated hitter/closer Hank Smith.

Devin Norton is 10-2 with a 2.35 ERA, and Derek Silva is 11-1 with a 3.41 ERA in a team-leading 16 starts.

PLNU won both the PacWest regular-season and tournament titles.

Track and field

Jada Pierre of San Diego State has reached the quarterfinals of the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA Track & Field Prelims at Fayetteville, Ark., with a heat-winning time of 13.31 seconds. Aztec Charlize James missed moving on by 1/1,000th of a second.