FLORENCE, S.C. – The No. 11 University of North Georgia (UNG) softball team will return to the 2025 NCAA Softball Championship for the fourth time in the last five years after taking down No. 2 Francis Marion (FMU) in the final game of the 2025 NCAA Southeast Super Regional in Florence, S.C. on Friday.

The Nighthawks are champions of the Southeast Region once again. While Friday's 5-3 win over second-ranked FMU secured the program's ninth regional title in history, it's the first time head coach Brooke O'Hair has hoisted a regional trophy in her career.

The former Mississippi College legend took over a history North Georgia program in the fall of 2024. With National Championship expectations, O'Hair welcomed the challenge. Now, she's met those expectations head on and will go further than she ever has in a season as the head coach of a Division II softball program.

In the first year under O'Hair, UNG is back atop the national stage once again. The Nighthawks will now head to Frost Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. for the NCAA DII Softball Championships May 22-28. UNG will return to the site where it won the second National Championship in program history just two seasons ago.

It was not easy for the Nighthawks to punch their ticket to Chattanooga, nor was it a foregone conclusion. When UNG lost the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship and then suffered a defeat to No. 23 Lenoir-Rhyne (LR) in the second game of the Southeast Regional, the Nighthawks quickly became underdogs in a region they've owned for the better part of the last two decades.

Yet they fought off elimination in three straight wins in the regional, taking down LR twice to advance to the Super Regional. Then came the hard part. 

In a rematch of last season's Southeast Regional elimination game in Dahlonega, UNG and FMU were set to duel for the Southeast Region crown. Again, despite defeating the Patriots last year and representing the Southeast Region at the national championship site eight times in the last 15 years, the Nighthawks were not the favorite to win the Super Regional series.

Making their first Super Regional appearance in program history, FMU entered the weekend series with a 52-4 record. The Patriots had won 30 of their last 31 games, shutout their opponents over three games in the Southeast Regional, were ranked second in the nation and were undoubtedly one of the hottest teams in college softball. 

When the Patriots blew out the Nighthawks 9-0 to force a decisive third game in the series, the momentum quickly swung in the favor of the home team. 

Even when UNG fell behind 1-0 in the second inning with its season on the line, the Nighthawks did not flinch in the face of adversity.

Junior center fielder Sydnee Reaves lace her third double of the weekend into left center to score sophomore third baseman Journey Roberts. 

With the game still tied at 1-1 in the fourth inning, Nighthawk junior starting pitcher Chloe Poss escaped the biggest jam of the day thus far. With go-ahead runners at second and third base and only one out in the inning, a strikeout and pop out got Poss and UNG out of the frame unscathed. 

The Nighthawks took advantage in the top of the fifth inning when junior first baseman Marycille Brumby belted her ninth home run of the season over the center field wall. 

While some players tend to over complicate their approach at the plate, particularly in the biggest at bats of the season, Brumby rolls the other way. 

"I'm just trying to help my team the best I can [by] just seeing a good pitch, swinging it, and just hitting the ball," said the calm and collected first baseman Friday. 

Brumby, who is hitting .363 at the plate with three homers, two doubles and eight RBIs in the NCAA Tournament, opened the floodgates for UNG's offense in the fifth. 

In the next at bat, Roberts smacked another single to the outfield before Reaves batted her in once again with her fourth single of the weekend. The junior, yet first-year Nighthawk, has been stellar in her first career postseason appearance. Reaves has now gone 14-for-32 (.438) in the NCAA Tournament with five doubles, a home run and nine RBIs.

Her second clutch hit of the game Friday gave UNG a 3-1 lead before recording an out in the fifth.

The advantage blossomed to three runs later in the frame when junior outfielder Natalie Ray roped a single into left center to score Reaves from third.

An error from the Patriots allowed freshman catcher Carleigh Knowles to reach base and another run to cross home plate as freshman second baseman Jenna Miles scored to make it 5-1.

FMU made its comeback bid in the bottom of the seventh inning as Paige Strickland hit a two-run homer with two outs to make it 5-3. 

With the tying run at the plate in the form of Rylee Gray, Poss needed one more out to finish her 10th complete game of the year and send the Nighthawks to Chattanooga. 

In a full count, Poss zipped a fastball past the swinging bat of Gray for her fourth strikeout of the game and the final out of the Super Regional. 

Roberts raced over from third base to give Poss a bear hug. The rest of the Nighthawks chucked their gloves high into the air. The entire team poured out of the dugout to mob Poss and the team in front of the pitching circle. 

After a heartbreaking loss in last year's Super Regional and the turmoil already faced in the 2025 postseason, relief and joy washed over those dressed in blue and white at FMU Softball Stadium Friday. 

Poss' performance Friday was one of the most impressive of the season considering the circumstances. Facing one of the best offenses in the nation, the Thomson, Ga. native pitched a complete game over seven innings with just nine hits, three runs and two walks allowed. She struck out four batters, but none were bigger than the final strikeout to seal her 20th victory of the season.

"I know that my team behind me is going to back me up all the time, and that's who I'm playing for; everybody else behind me," said Poss after the game. 

UNG will now await the Selection Committee's reseeding of the eight teams that punched their ticket to the National Championship site in Chattanooga. The Nighthawks will participate in their first game at the championship site since 2023 on Thursday, May 22.