FLORENCE, S.C. – The No. 11 University of North Georgia (UNG) softball team pulled out a thrilling 5-4 win over No. 2 Francis Marion (FMU) in extra innings to open the 2025 NCAA Southeast Super Regional in Florence, S.C. Thursday afternoon.

Timely hitting and clutch pitching led to second-seeded UNG's sensational victory over the top-seeded Patriots on Thursday. 

Against junior left-handed starter Alyssa Poston and her 16th-best earned run average (1.36) in the nation, the Nighthawks scored early on the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Southeast Region Pitcher of the Year who did not allow a single run in three regional games last weekend.

Junior center fielder Sydnee Reaves led off the game with a double to left center field on the first pitch of the contest. 

Reaves then came around to score thanks to a one-out RBI single from junior outfielder Natalie Ray to take an early lead.

FMU responded in the bottom of the inning with a run of their own to tie it 1-1, but it could have been worse if not for a stellar defensive play by UNG.

On a line-drive double into left center field, Patriot left fielder Emily Konz tried to score from first base. Ray picked the ball up against the wall and chucked it to the cutoff target, senior shortstop Rylie Moody, who turned and gunned it to home plate to beat Konz and record the second out of the inning.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the third inning when FMU put up three runs to take a 4-1 lead. 

Freshman pitcher Gracie West entered in the inning in relief and allowed just one inherited runner to score and keep the Patriots within striking distance. 

UNG immediately responded in the top of the fifth inning. 

Sophomore third baseman Journey Roberts reached first after being hit by a pitch with one out. Junior first baseman Marycille Brumby then belted a double to center field, scoring Roberts and making it a 4-2 game. 

Reaves then swapped spots with Brumby with her second double of the game as Brumby raced home to pull within one run. 

After Reaves moved to third on a ground out, Ray brought her in with a clutch two-out single to right field to tie the game.

Against an FMU offense that ranked 10th in the nation in run scoring entering the Super Regional, West simply shut down the Patriots for the rest of the tense game. 

In the fourth inning, West struck out the first two batters before allowing a single. She got out of the inning with a soft ground out. 

In the fifth, the rookie pitcher faced a jam with two runners on base and only one out in the frame. She calmly struck out the next two batters to keep FMU scoreless in the inning.

With the game still tied and the tension rising in the sixth inning, West twirled another marvelous inning. She struck out the first two batters and negated a two-out single with yet another soft ground out. 

In the seventh, the Patriots put the winning run in scoring position on the second pitch of the inning when D2CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year Paige Strickland doubled to center field. She advanced to third when West got a ground out in the next at bat.

With the winning run looming in West's peripheral vision just 60 feet from home plate, the freshman did not flinch. She forced the next two batters to pop out on the infield, sending the game to extra innings.

Neither team scored in the eighth inning as both parties were retired in order.

West stranded the game-winning run once again in the ninth inning as she nixed a lead-off single with a ground out and two pop ups in foul territory. 

The Nighthawks finally broke through in extra innings in the 10th. 

A one-out single from redshirt sophomore right fielder Tagen Levao-Maisonet put the go-ahead run in scoring position. The pinch runner, freshman Kayla Berry, stood on second base with two outs as Brumby dug back into the left-handed batter's box.

In a 2-1 count, Brumby lined a two-out single into center field. Berry hit the bag at third and turned towards home. The speedy freshman dove in ahead of the throw with a head-first slide to put UNG on top 5-4.

The first baseman finished the game 2-for-5 with two clutch RBIs. Ray also had a pair of clutch RBIs as she went 3-for-5 while batting in a pair of runners. Reaves joined Ray as the only other UNG hitter with three hits by going 3-for-6 with a run scored and an RBI.

As expected, the bottom of the 10th would not be easy for the Nighthawks. West started the inning with yet another strikeout, but a single and subsequent four-pitch walk placed the tying and winning runs on base with one out.

After the four-pitch free pass, West struck out Rylie Webster on three pitches.

Needing one more out to secure a win in the opening game of the best-of-three series, West won the game when Madalyn White–who is hitting .495 this season–lined out to left field. 

West was simply sensational on Thursday, continuing an unprecedented run in this year's NCAA Tournament. Against the Patriots, West threw 7.2 scoreless innings with only six hits and three walks while recording a career-high nine strikeouts. 

In the NCAA Tournament alone, West holds a 0.77 ERA in 23.1 innings as she has allowed just two earned runs in four appearances. She has 15 strikeouts and just seven walks. 

West has now lowered her season ERA by 1.98 runs with her quartet of outstanding performances in the postseason.

"She did her job," said head coach Brooke O'Hair post game on West's performance. "She kept getting them to chase pitches and did her job. Her job is to give the defense easy outs and she did just that." 

It's not often a freshman pitcher dominates the second-ranked team in the country in the manner West did on Thursday. The rookie's success has been rather surprising, but a welcome sight for O'Hair and the Nighthawks. 

"It's kudos to Graci… For her to come out and do what she did last weekend, she really earned the ball this weekend," said West's head coach. "For us it's about who is confident, who is taking the circle and wanting the ball and who can do what the team needs them to do and she has done just that."

West humbly deflected credit after the game. With a well-deserved ice pack taped to her left shoulder, the freshman said, "I'm just so proud of the girls. The defense was amazing. I'm just so proud of us, honestly. Not individually but all together."

Both the defense behind her and the offense in front of West gave her plenty of reasons to be proud on Thursday as the Nighthawks took down their highest-ranked opponent since March 2019. 

UNG's four runs scored against the starter Poston marked just the sixth time all year the junior has allowed four or more runs in a game. It was also the first time she has allowed four runs since April 25 and only the seventh time this year she has given up eight or more hits. 

The Nighthawks are now one win away from returning to the site of their famed 2023 National Championship. They will have two chances to defeat the Patriots on Friday. Success in one of those chances will punch UNG's ticket to the 2025 NCAA Division II Softball Championship at Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. 

First pitch Friday's opening game is set for 1 p.m. The third game, if necessary, will begin at 4 p.m.