BENTONVILLE -- Morgan Vaughan didn't realize what she had going until she faced what turned out to be her final batter Thursday.

Bentonville's senior pitcher then picked up a strikeout of Heidi Fernandez to complete her second perfect game of the season with a strikeout as the Lady Tigers coasted to a 12-0 victory over Siloam Springs.

"It went by a lot quicker," Vaughan said. "I kept thinking that, if we don't get it in five innings, then we'll get in seven and keep a positive attitude about it.

"It was pretty nerve-wrecking at the end. I had to go back and think what that last batter had done earlier and how we got her out. I remembered that nobody got on, so I had to get this out."

The game was delayed for 90 minutes because of weather conditions, but that had no effect on Vaughan (17-2). She struck out five and had only one ball leave the infield -- a fly ball by Shayla Simmons that Claire Lacina snagged in right field.

First baseman Shayli Martin preserved the perfect game in the third when she reached to her right and snagged a line drive by Taylan Main before it went into the outfield.

"Shayli made a great catch on it," Bentonville coach Kent Early said. "That was the play of the game right there.

Vaughan also helped her cause with the bat, driving in the only run she needed in the first. She followed singles by Mackenzie Hardison and Emma Kinsey with a towering double off the fence in left-center field.

The Lady Tigers (17-2, 8-0) made things easier for Vaughan by adding two more runs in the first followed by a four-run second and a five-run fourth to enforce the 10-run rule. Bentonville finished with 16 hits with every starter getting at least one hit, and Siloam Springs (8-15, 0-9) committed three costly errors.

"It was worth waiting," Early said. "We tarped the field Wednesday because we knew it would rain, and we've already had enough rainouts, snowouts ... That's why we have the tarp. It was just a rain delay, but that's our sport."

Bentonville is back in 7A/6A-West action today with a game against Rogers High at Veterans Park.

Sports on 04/25/2014