DAHLONEGA – For the fifth consecutive season, the No. 11 University of North Georgia (UNG) softball team is heading to the NCAA Division II Southeast Super Regional as the Nighthawks advanced to the next stage of the tournament after a 6-4 win over No. 23 Lenoir-Rhyne at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park on Sunday.

For the first time in four years, the Super Regional round will not go through Dahlonega as Southeast Regional top-seeded and No. 2 Francis Marion (FMU) won its portion of the regional tournament and will host the Super Regional May 15-16 in Florence, S.C. 

UNG ended the Patriots' season last year in the Southeast Regional #2 Tournament after facing FMU in three thrilling games. 

In that same tournament a year ago, the Nighthawks would advance to and host the Super Regional before being upset by fourth-seeded LR. This weekend served as a chance for revenge.

Having lost to this year's third-seeded Bears 4-3 in eight innings on Friday, UNG staved off elimination twice with a 7-1 victory over seventh-seeded Tusculum and a 10-6 triumph in the rematch with LR. 

In Saturday's elimination game with the Bears, the contest was postponed in the third inning due to rain and resumed Sunday morning. 

At the time of postponement, the Nighthawks had just tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the third inning thanks to a bases-loaded, two-out single from junior pitcher Chloe Poss that plated two runs. 

When the game resumed at 10 a.m. Sunday morning, the Bears got out of the third inning 16 hours after it started with a pop up to keep the game dead locked at 2-2.

LR then quickly scored two runs in the home half of the inning to claim a 4-2 lead. Both runs came against freshman relief pitcher Graci West who was in the circle at the time, but each runner that scored was inherited by West from Poss who started the game. 

West, a freshman from Commerce, Ga., was one of the most valuable pieces to UNG's success over the weekend. The rookie entered in the third inning with the momentum drastically tilted in favor of the Bears. She steadied things and kept LR at bay, allowing her offense to go to work.

In the top of the fourth inning, a two-out single from junior outfielder Natalie Ray put runners at first and second for freshman catcher Carleigh Knowles. 

The rookie catcher lined a single into right field that was subsequently bobbled by Bears outfielder Cassidy Wall. Freshman second baseman Jenna Miles and Ray were both able to score on the error, tying the game at 4-4 a piece.

Senior shortstop Rylie Moody then gave the Nighthawks the lead again by lobbing a single into left field as Knowles raced home and scored. 

Behind the smart base running from redshirt sophomore right fielder Tagen Levao-Maisonet, UNG added a massive insurance run in the fifth inning. After Brumby popped out in foul territory on the third base line, Levao-Maisonet tagged from third and scored as she noticed LR third baseman Madison Primm's momentum had taken her lunging away from home plate and towards left field.

After taking the 6-4 lead, West gave up a four-pitch walk to Avery Kiger to begin the bottom of the fifth. The biggest defensive play of the season then ensued for the Nighthawks. 

On a ground ball to second base, Miles lunged to her left and fielded the ball on a half-slide and spin. She transferred it to her right hand and slung it over to second base where the shortstop Moody was waiting to make the first out. However, Moody was not satisfied with just one. She tapped the bag, stepped and fired a bullet over to first base to complete the 4-6-3 double play.

A ground out in the next at bat kept the Bears off the board as West faced the minimum three batters in the fifth.

In the sixth, another lead-off base runner posed a threat for LR. However, once more, West shutdown one of the best offenses in the nation with a pop out and two fly outs to escape the sixth inning unscathed.

In the seventh, West would have to face the second, third and fourth hitters in the Bears' lineup. That trio combined for a whopping 46 of LR's nation-leading 95 homers this season. 

Things got worse when Madison Primm led off the inning with a single. The Bears were one swing away from tying the game. They had the winning run on deck.

Calm as ever, West coaxed 14-homer hitter Lani Warren into a fly out in center field. A few pitches later, she did the same to Kiger and her .735 slugging percentage. 

Suddenly, West had negated the lead-off single and put LR on the ropes down to its last out. A battle for the ages then took place with Julia Mardigian. 

In the first game on Friday, Mardigian had tied the LR program record for most hits in a career with her 282nd knock. One more hit would give her the all-time record herself. More importantly, it would keep the Bears alive in the 2025 season. 

In a 3-2 count, Mardigian took a walk and trotted down to first base representing the game-tying run. Wall stepped up to the plate as the winning run. 

With nine homers on the season herself, Wall was a more than capable candidate to tie or win the game for LR. Furthermore, she had all the motivation to do so in an effort to redeem herself for her fourth-inning error that allowed the Nighthawks to score two runs, the difference in the game. 

In a 2-2 count, Wall roped a ball towards center field. She hit it well, but with junior center fielder Sydnee Reaves patrolling the turf, there is nowhere to put a ball that is out of her reach.

Reaves charged a few steps and snagged the ball out of the air, clinching the victory with a snarl and shout as celebration ensued.

The Nighthawks poured out of the dugout and began a mob scene to the right of the circle. Hugs, high fives and questionable dance moves were on display as UNG had completed the comeback from Friday's loss to the Bears. 

A number of players helped the Nighthawks accomplish this feat Sunday. West stood out after rising to the challenge on the biggest stage in the first season of her career. 

When UNG needed effective pitching this weekend, it leaned on a freshman who had only thrown in 19 games prior to the NCAA Tournament. On Sunday, West threw five shutout innings with only four hits allowed to earn the sixth victory of the year. 

This performance came a little less than 24 hours after earning the first save of her career in UNG's 10-6 victory over the Bears on Friday. Over three outings in the Southeast Regional this weekend, West combined for 15.2 innings of work, 12 hits, two runs, four walks and six strikeouts. She held a 1.15 earned run average in the tournament. 

Powered behind the offense and a two-RBI performance from Poss and 2-for-3 days from both Ray and Reaves, West helped UNG get back to the Southeast Super Regional once more.

However, this time it comes under the direction of first-year Nighthawks head coach Brooke O'Hair who will make the third Super Regional appearance of her career. In just one season in Dahlonega, O'Hair has lifted UNG to arguably its best offensive season in program history. 

Now, she and her team will have a chance to advance to the National Championship site. It will take two wins over No. 2 FMU in hostile territory. The Super Regional series begins Thursday, May 15 from Florence, S.C. at 1 p.m.