CONWAY, Ark. – After a long day at the ballpark, the Central Arkansas softball team opened its home season with a pair of wins on Day One of the Michelle Short Memorial Collegiate Classic. After a perfect game in the circle for Jordan Johnson against Saint Louis, the offense came alive for game two, scoring seven runs against UMKC.
 
Game One – Central Arkansas 3, Saint Louis 0
This game was less about the offense of the Bears as it was about one player who never stepped in the box. With a season-high 13 strikeouts, Johnson was in an absolute zone as she mowed down the Billiken lineup. Striking out seven batters through the first round of the order, the redshirt-junior could not be touched. With the defense behind her picking up the few balls batted around, Johnson recorded her Central Arkansas record third perfect game.
 
"It's such a great feeling, because as a pitcher, you want to be perfect, but it's so rare," Johnson said of her perfect game. "My mindset was just to attack, especially in the sixth and seventh, because I knew it was happening. I just kept telling myself, attack, attack, attack, and whatever happens happens."
 
Offensively, the Bears got the scoring started in the second inning, putting runners in scoring position before Tremere Harris reached base on an error that scored Kylie Griffin. In the next inning, it was Griffin who forced an error from the Billikens that allowed a run to score, as a pinch-running Lindsey Williams crossed home plate. Finally, in the fourth, Mary Kate Brown reached base on a bunt and was driven in by Jaylee Engelkes' double to center field.
 
Game Two – Central Arkansas 7, Kansas City 3
The possibility of another perfect game was eliminated quickly against the Roos, as Ally Vonfeldt hit a two-out solo home run in the top of the first. The Bears answered in the bottom of the inning, with Engelkes driving a run home on a sacrifice fly.
 
After a few clean innings for both teams, the Bear offense got rolling again in the latter stages of the game. Three-straight extra base hits in the fourth inning started the scoring, a string of four-straight hits before the Roos recorded an out. In the fifth inning, the Bears added five more hits, with four singles, driving in Brown and Megan Crownover to build the lead to 5-1. Kansas City tacked on a pair of runs in the top half of the sixth to trim the lead to two, but the comeback would be short-lived. Kristen Whitehouse drove in a pair with a deep single up the gut to extend the lead back to four runs. From there, Kayla Beaver closed it out with three-straight outs in the top of the seventh to give the Bears their fifth win of the season.
 
Central Arkansas will play two more games on Monday, facing Omaha around 11:30 a.m. before ending the tournament against Pine Bluff around 6 p.m.