(Peru, Neb.) – It was win or go home.  And the opponent was Bellevue University. 
 
If Bellevue was not incentive enough for Peru State College (PSC), advancing in their first national tournament was as the Bobcats topped Bellevue 6-3 in an elimination game for both teams.  PSC improved to 37-17 with the win while Bellevue finished their season at 40-21.
 
With the win, Peru State advances to face Lindsay Wilson (Ky.) in another elimination game scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the Paducah, Ky., opening round site.   Lindsay Wilson is the 11^th-ranked team in the NAIA.  Another win would put PSC in the championship game against LSU-Shreveport shortly after the opening game on Saturday.  Both games have been moved up due to pending weather forecasts.
 
Bellevue-PSC Game Action
 The Bobcats first got on the board in the second inning.  Kyle Fredrickson (Omaha) reached on a walk to start the action.  Mitch Roberts (Blue Springs) entered to pinch run for Fredrickson and advanced to second when Derek Voigt (Auburn, Wash.) singled in the infield.  J.L. Thomason (Holt, Fla.) followed with a single to shallow left which loaded the bases.  Following a strike-out, Gustavo Arcia (Caracas, Venezuela) singled to shallow left-center driving in both Roberts and Voigt to make it 2-0 Peru State.  The 'Cats did leave two base runners stranded, but had taken the initial lead.
 
Peru State would add another run in the bottom of the fourth.  Voigt singled to left and went to second when Thomason laid down a sacrifice bunt.  After another out, Arcia singled to center getting another RBI as Thomason scored giving PSC a 3-0 advantage.
 
The 'Cats would score their last (and enough) runs of the game in the bottom of the next inning.
 Jonathan Castillo (Paterson, N.J.) singled to right-center.  Following a strike-out, Castillo stole second base.  Jeff Eubank (Fort Pierce, Fla.) reached on a walk and both runners advanced on a Bellevue wild pitch.  Fredrickson also got on board with a walk to load the bases and Roberts entered to pinch run again for Fredrickson.   Voigt doubled to deep left-center which cleared the bases putting PSC up 6-0.  The 'Cats would again strand two, but had the lead at the point.
 
Bellevue scored two in the top of the sixth to make it 6-2.  The Bruins would only add one in the top of the eighth after having the bases loaded.  Bellevue did have a base runner in the top of the ninth, but could not capitalize as PSC took down Bellevue having lost their last four against the Bruins during the 2011 season.

GAME BOX SCORE
 
Voigt went three for four with three RBI.  Arcia and Castillo each had two hits with Arcia adding three RBI in his best hitting of the opening round of the national tournament.
 
Bryan Duncan (Seattle, Wash.) earned the win, his eighth of the year against two losses.  Duncan scattered six hits, gave up three runs – two earned, and struck out three.  After getting into trouble in the top of the eighth, Duncan was relieved by Aubrey Dezarn (Las Vegas, Nev.). 
 
Dezarn came in with the bases loaded and was able to get a double-play which did allow one run to score (Duncan's responsibility), but then struck out the next batter to end the inning.  Dezarn did give up a single in the top of the ninth, but ended up earning the save after shutting down Bellevue for the PSC win.  The save was Dezarn's third of the season.  In his two innings of relief, Dezarn gave up just one hit and struck out two.