DAHLONEGA – The No. 8 University of North Georgia (UNG) softball team went 2-0 on day one of the Gold City Classic with a 10-3 win over Northwood and an 11-0 shutout against Barry on Friday night at Haines & Carolyn Hill Stadium at Lynn Cottrell Park.
Game One: North Georgia 10, Northwood 3
After a scoreless first inning, the Nighthawks got on the board first with a Journey Roberts triple to score Kayla Berry and Kaitlyn Johnson. North Georgia flipped the lineup back over to Sydnee Reaves, who added another RBI on the board to score Roberts and make it a 3-0 game.
After a quick three up, three down and a pair of strikeouts from Lila Mullinax in the third, the Nighthawks got back to work in the home-half of the inning. North Georgia took advantage of some costly errors from the Timberwolves and a pair of RBIs from Reaves and Ava Lunsford each to put the Nighthawks up eight.
The Timberwolves started to come alive in the fifth inning as they plated three runs to cut North Georgia's lead to five. The Nighthawks added on some insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth with a sac fly from Jenna Miles and double from Carleigh Knowles that scored Reaves to put North Georgia up 10-3.
Mullinax kept the Timberwolves at bay with three strikeouts in the sixth inning. In the top of the seventh, the Nighthawks converted on a double play to pick up the final two outs and secure the win.
Mullinax picked up her second win of the season in what was her best performance of the 2026 season thus far. She recorded seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings while allowing just two runs on six hits.
Reaves paced the Nighthawks with a game-high three hits and three RBIs. The senior centerfielder now has six multi-hit performances throughout the first eight games of this season.
Game Two: North Georgia 11, Barry 0 (5 Inn.)
The Nighthawks wasted no time getting runs on the board in game two against Barry. A three-run homer over the left field wall from Marycille Brumby broke open the scoring to put North Georgia up 3-0.
North Georgia posted another three-run inning in the second after a single to left field from Miles scored Lunsford and Berry and a groundout to third from Knowles scored Reaves. The Nighthawks plated three more runs in the third to extend their lead 9-0.
The bottom of the fourth saw the batting order get back to Brumby to lead off the inning. Brumby, who was not satisfied with just one home run on the evening, launched another softball over the wall to put the Nighthawks up by 10. A double from Emma Smallwood scored Emma Hare to give North Georgia an 11-0 lead and put the game out of reach for the Buccaneers. Chloe Poss finished the job in the top of the fifth inning with a pair of swinging strikeouts to clinch the run-rule victory.
Poss picked up her third win and second shutout of the season. She finished the game with a season-high eight strikeouts while only allowing three hits against the Buccaneers.
Brumby, Berry and Miles all chipped in a pair of hits in the win. Tonight also served as the first game in Brumby's career with two home runs.
North Georgia (6-2) will look to carry its momentum into day two of the Gold City Classic tomorrow against Northwood and Barry. First pitch against the Buccaneers is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
