CONWAY, Ark. – Back in action for the second tournament of the season in the state of Louisiana, the Central Arkansas softball team heads back to the Pelican State to take part in the LSU Tiger Classic. Playing five games over the weekend, the Bears will face Ohio, Utah and No. 18 LSU over the course of Friday through Sunday. Central Arkansas will start things off with an 11 a.m. first pitch on Friday against Ohio.
 
The Bears (4-0) got off to a hot start to the season last weekend, sweeping McNeese's Cowgirl Classic using dominant pitching to take down some very competitive teams, including the hosting Cowgirls, a preseason top-30 team in the nation. In particular, Kayla Beaver was electric, giving up zero earned runs and racking up 26 strikeouts in 17.2 innings over three appearances. Against Idaho State, the redshirt junior logged the ninth game in school history of 15 Ks, blanking the Bengals for her first shutout of the year.
 
At the plate, the Bears averaged over seven hits per game, with Jenna Wildeman leading the way with six hits over four games. Wildeman also became the second Central Arkansas player ever to reach 100 stolen bases, and sits just one swipe away from being the all-time leader in school history.
 
This year's Tiger Classic, a tournament Central Arkansas participated in last year, features a couple of brand new teams this time around; the Bears have never faced Ohio or Utah. But the Tigers of LSU is an opponent familiar to Central Arkansas, having picked up their first win against the SEC program last season. The win over the Tigers was also the highest-ranked win in program history, ranked number 14 at last season's tournament. The 3-2 win was punctuated by a seventh inning double from Jaylee Engelkes that scored Tremere Harris for the go-ahead run.
 
The Ohio Bobcats started the season 2-1 at the Gardner Webb Running Bulldog Classic, opening with wins over George Mason and Austin Peay before falling to Gardner Webb in the third game. Against George Mason, the Bobcats scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh, including a two-run homer off the bat of Annalia Paoli. Then against Austin Peay, again the Bobcats had to come from behind, trailing 5-2 in the fifth. In the bottom half of the frame, Ohio scored eight runs, including a three-run bomb to take a five-run lead, holding on until the final out.
 
Utah enters the weekend undefeated, heading to Baton Rouge a perfect 5-0, outscoring five opponents 39-2. The Utes had five full-time batters hit .400 or better, led by Aliya Belarde's .471. Additionally, Utah was all over the basepaths, stealing 26-of-28 bases. Nine players stole at least one base, with Belarde and Haley Denning each with five swipes last weekend.
 
Finally, the hosting Tigers are also undefeated this season, holding a national ranking of 18 and five wins. LSU opened the year with three-straight run-rule wins, downing New Mexico twice and No. 19 Oregon State short of seven regulation innings. Taylor Pleasants was a hot bat all weekend, hitting .533 with four home runs. In the circle, four Tigers earned wins, allowing a team ERA of 1.81 with two shutouts.
 
The Bears will open the weekend against Ohio on Friday, playing at 11 a.m., before playing Utah to close Friday. Another game against Ohio and the first game against LSU are on tap Saturday, with a Sunday matinee against LSU at 12:30.