DAHLONEGA – The No. 11 University of North Georgia (UNG) softball team avoided elimination in the 2025 NCAA Southeast Regional Tournament with a 7-1 win over Tusculum after suffering a 4-3 loss in extra innings to No. 23 Lenoir-Rhyne (LR) Friday at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park. 

By staving off elimination against the Pioneers, UNG will LR again Saturday, May 10 at 10 a.m. with a chance for revenge. The Nighthawks will have to defeat the Bears twice on Saturday in order to advance to the NCAA Southeast Super Regional May 15-16. 

Game 1: Bears def. Nighthawks, 4-3 (8 Inn.)
In a rematch of last year's Super Regional showdown, UNG was unable to exact revenge against LR in a thrilling showdown between two National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) top 25 teams. 

Neither team scored more than one run in an inning Friday as Madison Primm and the Bears opened the game with an RBI double to take an early 1-0 lead.

The Nighthawks quickly tied the game in the home half of the frame on an RBI single from senior shortstop Rylie Moody. 

Two innings later, freshman catcher Carleigh Knowles recorded her team-leading 67th RBI of the season with a single to right center field to give UNG a 2-1 lead in the third.

In the fourth, the lead grew for the Nighthawks as junior left fielder Natalie Ray singled to left field, scoring freshman pinch runner Kayla Berry who ran for redshirt junior first baseman Marycille Brumby after her lead-off walk.

Junior pitcher Chloe Poss had limited the Bears offense for four innings after entering the game in relief in the first. However, the nation's lead home run hitting team would not be kept quiet for long. 

In the fifth inning, Primm connected on a solo homer to left center to make it 3-2. 

The Nighthawks still had a chance to come away with a victory in the seventh inning. 

Poss put LR on the brink of a loss after getting the first two outs of the inning with a line out and ground out. However, a hit batter and a single put the tying run at third base in the form of Katelyn Rackard. 

Down to her last strike, Lani Warren then lined a double into left field to tie the game and force extra innings as the Nighthawks were unable to score in the bottom of the seventh.

LR came away with the win in the eighth after scoring a run on a solo homer from Alexandria Gray.

Game 2: Nighthawks def. Pioneers, 7-1
After the loss to the Bears, UNG would rematch with Tusculum after taking down the Pioneers 6-1 to open the regional on Thursday.

The winner would advance to play LR on Saturday, the loser's season would end in Dahlonega.

Tusculum took advantage of an unfortunate miscue for the Nighthawks in the first inning. A ground ball back to Nighthawk freshman starter Graci West was fielded cleanly, but as West delivered the ball to freshman second baseman Jenna Miles covering first base, Miles slipped and fell and the ball rolled into right field. 

While no error was charged, the mistake allowed the Pioneers to bring in their lone run of the game on a ground out in the next at bat. 

West would shut down the Pioneers for the remainder of the game while the UNG offense began to catch fire.

In the second inning, junior center fielder Sydnee Reaves doubled through the right side to bring in a pair of runs and give the Nighthawks their first lead of the game. 

They would go scoreless until the fifth inning when Reaves came to bat again. With a runner on base, she roped a single into right field and took two extra bases after an error from Caylen Conrad allowed a run to score. 

In the next at bat, Miles lifted a sacrifice fly to left field as Reaves raced home to make it 4-1.

In the sixth inning, Brumby cemented the win with a pair of runners on base. The lefty first baseman swung and clobbered a three-run home run over the right field wall. Her sixth homer of the season made it a 7-1 game and secured the victory for the Nighthawks.