By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Baseball season is in full swing, and the DMS Bearcats picked up their first win of the 2012 season on Tuesday afternoon, completing a trifecta of victories over the Charleston Blue Jays.

Austin Chesser took to the mound for the 'Cats, and had an impressive outing. Chesser gave up two hits in the first inning, but was in complete control of the game from that point on, giving up just one more hit and striking out eight batters in the win.

The Blue Jays held a 2-0 lead heading into the home half of the second inning; a leadoff single from Chandler Young sparked a six hit, five run rally in the inning. Chesser retired all three batters he faced in the third.

The bottom of the third inning saw the Bearcats string together another big rally; Randal Allen kicked things off with a leadoff single.

The Blue Jays were three up, three down in the fourth inning; the Bearcats exploded for seven more runs to take an 18-2 lead. Charleston was unable to put anything together in the top of the fifth, ending the game due to the 10 run rule.

The Bearcats are scheduled to be back in action on Thursday (April 21) afternoon when they host the Campbell Camels. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Bearcat Tennis team struggled across the board in Tuesday afternoon's match against the Cape Central Tigers.

Central picked up 8-1 victories on both the JV and Varsity levels in the match.

The lone highlight of the JV contest was the singles match between Dexter's Keaton Altom and Caleb Strickland. Altom, a sophomore, was able to pick up a narrow 6-4 victory.

Sam Ward, Dexter's #2, picked up the lone Bearcat victory on the Varsity level, again in singles. Ward defeated senior Sam Stahly in an 8-6 decision.

Head coach Leanne Dooley noted that Ward/Stahly, as well as the #1 singles match between Tyler Miller and Juan Pablo Jaramillo, were great matches on both sides of the court.

The Bearcats will be back in action again on Thursday (April 12) afternoon, when they return to Cape to take on the Notre Dame Bulldogs in a 4:00 p.m. match.

Photo Above: Sam Ward hustles to return a shot out of his reach. SMT File Photo by Andrew Cato.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Alex Cliff's solo home run in the bottom of the second inning would be all the offensive production the Bearcats would need against the Charleston Blue Jays on Tuesday afternoon.

Starting pitcher Josh Overall didn't need much run support; the senior threw a complete game shutout, giving up just one hit, three walks, and two hit batsmen while striking out 11 batters (five looking) in the 8-0 victory.

The 'Cats started things off slow at the plate, but picked up as the game went on.

"We struggled a little bit at the plate at the beginning of the game. [Charleston's] pitcher didn't have a whole lot of velocity, and it took our guys a bit to adjust," head coach Brian Becker said. "Cliff made a good adjustment there and hit it out with a wood bat; that shows you how strong he is. He's a good hitter, a strong kid, and he drove the ball well."

The senior first baseman has broken out a wood bat a few other times in the season, opting to use it over the standard BBCOR metal bats to work on his technique at the plate due to the increased weight and difficulty of hitting with one.

"[Cliff] uses it to work on his swing," Becker added. "He's got the quickest bat on the team, but I think he wants to use that wood a little bit to get him focused more on getting the ball on the 'sweet' part of the bat. He definitely did that today."

The 'Cats tacked on five more runs in the third inning; after a leadoff walk to Brad Potts, Chase Young hit a deep single to left-center for an RBI. Cliff popped up to left field, but an error on Charleston's D.J. Adams allowed Young to cross the plate. D.J. Dowdy drove cliff in with a single to left, and Owen Flowers smacked a two RBI single to center to cap off the rally.

Potts hit a leadoff single in the fourth, and was driven in by Logan Northern. Potts came up with an RBI single in the fifth inning to score Cody Neldon and set the score at 8-0. The 'Cats couldn't manufacture a run in the sixth inning, but Overall's impressive performance at the mound made it an easy win for the Bearcats, who improve to 8-3 on the season.

The senior picked up his first win in his second start, and improved his ERA to 1.62 with the shutout.

"Josh did a great job; he had pretty good pop at times, and he did a great job of getting his breaking ball over," Becker said of his starter. "He went out there and did exactly what we needed him to do. Josh threw strikes and did a good job."

The Bearcats will be back in action on Thursday afternoon, when they travel to New Madrid for a showdown with the 4-1 Eagles.

"Coach [Joe] McClarty has them working hard down there. They are a much improved ball club over what they have been, and we'll have to go down there and play good baseball in order to beat them," Becker said. "I don't know that they've been beaten yet, but I know we'll have to show up ready to play."

Senior right-hander Owen Flowers (1-1, 2.90 ERA) will get the start in the 4:00 p.m. contest.

Photo Above: Josh Overall fires a pitch during his complete game shutout of the Charleston Blue Jays on Tuesday afternoon. The senior struck out 11 total batters (five looking) in the win.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Emily Triplett hit a two RBI triple to right-center with one out in the bottom of the first inning to plate the Lady Bearcats' first runs of the game, and the blowout built from there.

The Lady Bearcats shredded the Charleston Blue Jays on Tuesday afternoon, scoring 12 runs in both the first and second innings to run-rule the Jays with a 24-4 final score.

Dexter gave Charleston's pitching staff problems all day; the Lady 'Cats jacked eight hits, and seemingly every other at-bat resulted in a walk.

The Jays drew first blood in the game; two wild pitches and an error allowed Charleston to plate three runs in the top of the first inning. Triplett's triple in the home half of the first was just one of four hits in the inning; Dexter added scored five runs off bases-loaded walks to take a 12-3 lead into the second inning.

Another wild pitch led to a fourth run for Charleston, but the Jays were shut down by Riley Rickman for the rest of the game.

The Lady 'Cats reached base on four walks and three errors in the bottom of the second before Tiffany Watson came up with a RBI single. Ashley Brown followed up with a RBI triple to extend the big lead. Taylor Owens and Kendra Stevenson hit back-to-back singles before Triplett was caught off-base on a Rickman fly-out to end the inning with a 24-4 lead.

The game was called after the top of the third due to the '15 after three' rule, improving the Lady Bearcats' record to 4-5 on the season.

Triplett led the way for the 'Cats at the plate with a 2-2 effort and three RBI's. Rickman drove in two runs on the day.

The Lady Bearcats will be in action again Thursday afternoon when they travel to Puxico for a SCAA Contest. First pitch is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.

Photo Above: Emily Triplett looks back to the field as she crosses third base after her two RBI triple in the first inning.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Lady Bearcats' struggles continued on the diamond Monday afternoon when they played host to the New Madrid County Central Lady Eagles. The Eagles' dominance of the Southeast Missouri spring softball scene continued in their 17-14 victory over the Lady 'Cats to extend their win streak to 51 games.

Becky Anderson took the start and the loss for the Lady Bearcats. The senior struck out two batters, walked one, and threw seven wild pitches in her seven innings of work.

The Eagles jumped on Anderson early, racking up five runs in the first inning. The Lady 'Cats were three up, three down in the first, and NMCC tacked on four more runs in the top half of the second to take a 9-0 lead.

Riley Rickman smacked a one out triple in the bottom of the second; Tiffany Watson hit a fielder's choice to third base to drive Rickman in for Dexter's first run of the day.

The Eagles added three more runs in the third, one in the fourth, and four in the fifth to take a 17-1 lead.

The Lady 'Cats struck hard in the home half of the fifth; walks to Anderson and Madison Christian set up eight consecutive RBI singles to leave the bases loaded and the score at 17-9. Ashley Brown delivered a grand slam to pull the Lady 'Cats within five runs. Triplett grounded into a fielder's choice to score Owens and set the score at 17-14 heading into the sixth.

Neither team was able to score a run in the final two innings, sealing the final score at 17-14 in New Madrid's favor.

The Lady Bearcats, now 3-5 on the season, will be back in action this afternoon (Tuesday, April 10) against the Charleston Blue Jays. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Photo Above: Becky Anderson hurled a complete game for the Lady 'Cats, but struggled throughout. The senior was able to strike out two batters, but walked one, gave up 10 hits, and delivered seven wild pitches in the game.