Matt Barker, Sports Information Director

COLUMBIA, Ky. - The Freed-Hardeman Lady Lion Softball team kicked off the NAIA National Tournament Opening round on a bright note Monday afternoon, as they took down tournament host Lindsey Wilson College by a final tally of 7-3 at the Marilyn D. Sparks Park in Columbia, Ky.

Makenzie Prince (16-6) picked up the win in the circle after pitching a gem, where she allowed just three hits and one earned run in seven innings of work. Prince did not allow a hit through five innings of work, which included a stretch of retiring 14 straight batters midway through the game.

Prince also helped herself at the plate, as she pounded out a two-run home run to go along with a pair of sacrifice fly's to account for four of FHU's seven RBI in the match-up. Caitlyn Carter also found her stride at the plate, as she went a perfect 4-for-4 with two scored runs while Hannah Wright went 3-for-4 with a home run.

The Lady Lions got their scoring drive started in the top of the first inning, as Caitlyn Carter got the inning started with a single up the middle. Makenzie Prince took care of things from there, as she connected on a two-run homerun over the left field fence to put FHU up 2-0 in the early going.

Lindsey Wilson got one run back in the bottom half of the first inning, as Lyric Houston crossed the plate after reaching on a walk and scoring off a Cassie Matlock fielder's choice (4-3 putout) to close the gap at the 2-1 mark.

The Blue Raiders closed the gap even further in the bottom of the second inning, as Kalli Harris crossed the plate after reaching on an error at shortstop by Caitlyn Carter and scoring on a wild pitch by Makenzie Prince to even things up at two apiece.

However, the Lady Lions were not phased by the comeback, as they pushed two runs across in the top of the third inning to pull ahead 4-2. Abbi Gooch scored the first run in the inning after reaching on a single and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Makenzie Prince to give FHU the 3-2 lead. Caitlyn Carter scored the other run in the inning following an RBI single by Kaylyn Graham to round out the scoring in the third inning.

The Lady Lions extended their lead to 7-2 in the top of the fourth inning, as Hannah Wright opened the inning with a homerun over the left field fence to get the scoring drive started. Morgan Warren also crossed the plate in the inning following an Emily Bombard walk while Abbi Gooch rounded out the scoring with a run following Prince's second sacrifice fly of the game to make it 7-2.

Despite Lindsey Wilson pushing two runs across in the first two innings, Prince shut things down for the remainder of the game, as she retired 14 straight batters to keep the base path clean for the next four innings.

The Blue Raiders were able to push one run across in the bottom of the seventh inning following an RBI double by Amber Hancock to score Kalli Harris and pull Lindsey Wilson within four runs at the 7-3 mark. However, Prince continued her dominance and got out of the inning without any further damage to secure the 7-3 victory.

With the win, the Lady Lions move to 32-13 on the season and advance to play the winner of No. 1 seed Vanguard (Calif.) and No. 4 seed Saint Xavier (Ill.). The winner's bracket match-up is scheduled to take place Monday evening at 6:30 PM. Live video for that match-up available by clicking here