Hawai‘i Pacific, PacWest make history with inaugural NCAA II post-season debut

PHOENIX, AZ - For the first time in the short history of Pacific West Conference baseball, a team from the fledging league has earned a berth in the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament.

And for the first time as an NCAA Division II program, Hawai‘i Pacific will test its mettle at the NCAA II West Region Tournament beginning Thursday, May 13.

The NCAA announced the 48-team Division II National Championship bracket on Sunday evening, May 9, from its national office in Indianapolis, IN.

The Sea Warriors (37-10) enter the four-team field as the fourth seed in the West Region and will take on top seed UC San Diego (48-7) on Thursday at 2 p.m. (PDT) at Major League Baseball’s Urban Youth Academy in Compton, CA.

The double-elimination tournament is being hosted by #2 California State University Dominguez Hills (40-18) who will face Chico State (35-18) at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The losers play an elimination game on Friday at 2 p.m., while the winners meet on Friday at 6 p.m. for a berth in the championship round.

The West Regional will conclude on Saturday or Sunday with the region champion ticketed for Cary, NC, and the Division II College World Series May 22-29.

There are eight regional titles for the taking around the country – all with passes to the D-II College World Series.

Six of the regions host six-team tournament, while the South Regional boasts eight clubs vying for a trip to North Carolina. The West Region has just four teams competing in its tournament.

“The wait is over and we are finally in,” Garett Yukumoto, the head coach from HPU exclaimed after getting the news. “I am excited now to look ahead and study up on the other three teams in the tournament. It’s just a great feeling for the coaches and players, but we need to get ready now for the task at hand.”

The Sea Warriors, who are riding a nine-game win streak, will battle a post-season tested Triton squad that won the region last year.

UC San Diego earned the California Collegiate Athletic Association title and the automatic qualifier to the tournament by winning that league’s championship.

HPU enters the tournament with a 27-4 PacWest record that led the Sea Warriors to their first league crown.

The Pacific West Conference formed its baseball conference in 2008 as a statistics and awards league without a league schedule or standings.

It was a prelude to 2009 when HPU, Grand Canyon, Dixie State and Hawai‘i Hilo played as a conference.

Dixie State won the inaugural PacWest Championship and hosted the PacWest Division II Little World Series in Saint George in May of 2009.

HPU, Grand Canyon and Dixie State competed with three Division II programs from Puerto Rico with the Red Storm earning the title.

This year saw Academy of Art join the conference giving the PacWest five programs and a 32-game conference schedule.

For more information on PacWest baseball, go to http://www.pacificwestsports.org/sports/baseball/index

For the regional tournament site, go to http://www.gotoros.com/custompages/baseball/2010-NCAA-WR/index.html

For the complete 48-team field, go to http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/050910aab.html