BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Jacqueline Roof's two-out solo bomb to left-center field uncorked a scoreless tie in third inning and Campbellsville's pitching staff got out of jams in the final three innings to defeat three-seeded Freed-Hardeman on Monday afternoon.
 
Game one the Bowling Green Bracket in the NAIA Softball Opening Round Championship flew by in an hour and 33 minutes and it was to the credit of strong pitching by CU's (38-13) Neely Quint and Rachel Denkins. The duo combined to shutout the Lady Lions (24-13) and allow only six hits overall.
 
Quint (19-6) tossed 4.1 innings and allowed four hits and struck out one in her 41 total pitches. Denkins entered in the fifth inning with runners on the corners for Freed-Hardeman and worked out of what ended up being three straight jams for CU's defense. Denkins earned her fourth save of the year.
 
The Lions got two-out triples from Annaka Baker in the first and Caitlyn Carter in the third, but each time Quint stranded the runner with a groundout to end the inning.
 
Prince allowed just one baserunner until making a mistake to Roof with one out in the third. The righthander got ahead in the count 0-2 before Roof fouled off four straight pitches and then belted a high fastball over the wall in left-center, her 12th home run of the year, giving Campbellsville a 1-0 edge. Roof finished with a 3-for-3 day to lead all hitters.
 
Freed-Hardeman threatened again in the fifth when Lily Bombard doubled to left-center with one out and Kristen Hunsicker followed with a single through the left side, off the glove of a diving Roof, putting runners on the corners. In came Denkins and she got Morgan Warren out with a bunt and Carter grounded back to the circle sharply, with Denkins making a nice stab to keep the Lions off the scoreboard.
 
FHU got two more baserunners in the sixth after a one-out single by Baxter and Prince reached on a two-out error, but Jenna Graham grounded out to third to end the threat.
 
Morgan Sperlock's pinch-hit two-out double to left in the seventh gave the Lions a chance to tie the game once again, but Carter popped out to second to end the contest.
 
Makenzie Prince went six innings in the circle, allowed five CU hits and the one earned run.
 
The Lady Tigers will now play the winner of top-seeded University of St. Francis and Indiana Wesleyan University, which is playing at 3:30 p.m. ET. CU will play once again at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon at Michael Buchanon Park. Freed-Hardeman will play the loser at 3:30 ET.