By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Tuesday afternoon's late-inning heroics were nowhere to be found when the Bearcats faced off against Poplar Bluff on Wednesday afternoon. Trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Bearcats were three up, three down to end the game.

All five of Dexter's runs were the results of home runs that barely made it out of the park; Chase Young smacked a three-run shot in the third inning that bounced off the top of the fence, while Daniel Fitts' two-run blast in the second inning dinged off the foul pole in left field.

"Today's game seemed like it was a game of inches all day long," head coach Brian Becker said after the loss. "Chase [Young] hits one over the fence by an inch, and Daniel [Fitts] hits [a home run] that was an inch fair; on their end, they had a base hit go off the end of [Jordan] Miller's glove that brought in two runs for them, and had a play here at third off the end of Owen [Flowers]'s glove that brought in the tying run."

Miller took the start for the Bearcats, striking out one batter, walking three, and giving up five runs (three earned) in his five innings of work. The junior right-hander struggled with command of his breaking ball throughout the contest.

Alex Cliff struck out two batters and gave up one earned run in his two innings of relief.

"[Jordan] threw all right. He didn't have his best stuff today, and he was pushing the ball quite a bit, which makes him throw it high," Becker said of his starter. "He struggled with his breaking ball, but all-in-all I thought he worked out of some jams pretty good for the most part. He did a good job."

"Cliff came in and did all right," Becker added. "He gave up a hard-hit ball down the left field line that plated the game-winner for them, but other than that he did a good job."

The Mules quickly responded to Young's three-run shot in the first, plating two runs on a double from Charlie Kayser in the top of the second. The top of the fourth saw the Mules add two more runs, this time on a single by Kayser, to take a 4-3 lead.

Fitts' solo shot to left in the fifth inning gave the Bearcats a 5-4 lead, but Drew Dowd crossed home plate for the Mules after an infield throwing error on the Bearcats.

Cliff smacked a line drive to left field for a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth inning; singles from Miller and D.J. Dowdy loaded the bases, but the 'Cats were unable to take advantage of the situation and couldn't score.

Logan Faith hit a hot shot down the left field line for an RBI double to plate the game-winning run for the Mules in the top of the sixth inning; the Bearcats would strand men on first and second in the bottom half of the inning. Lefty reliever Brandon Stuchenschneider would retire the 'Cats in order in the bottom of the seventh inning to seal the victory for the Mules.

"You've got to give credit to Poplar Bluff; they swung the bats well today," Becker said. "I thought we swung 'em well early, but after that the left hander came in and did a good job against us. We just couldn't get the big hit there; we had opportunities, we just couldn't get them in. You can't do that against teams like Bluff; they are a good ball club, and when you get runners in scoring position, you have to get them in."

With the loss, the 'Cats fall to 10-4 on the season, with a 4-3 record in conference games. With the SEMO Conference tournament beginning in less than a week, Becker noted the high level of competition this season.

"This conference is as tough as it's ever been. From town to town, there is good baseball all over southeast Missouri. The conference is as good as I've ever seen it this year," Becker said. "It's going to be really tough to seed this tournament. It's going to be really interesting to see who has who where; it's going to be a fun tournament with some good baseball."

The Bearcats will be back in action on Friday (April 20) afternoon, when they open the Notre Dame Classic against Country Day (MICDS) in a 3:00 p.m. contest. Owen Flowers (2-1, 1.68 ERA) will be on the mound for the 'Cats.

Photos Above:
Top: Jordan Miller fires a pitch to Poplar Bluff's Josh King during the second inning of Wednesday's SEMO Conference battle.
Bottom: Daniel Fitts is congratulated by head coach Brian Becker after hitting a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.