Hawai‘i Pacific claims share of PacWest title, earns AQ to NCAA II Championship Tournament

KANEOHE, HI – Reigning NCAA Division II National Champion Hawai‘i Pacific will return to the 2011 post-season after capturing a share of the Pacific West Conference title and claiming the league’s automatic qualifier.

The Sea Warriors ended their regular season on Saturday. April 30, by sweeping the Vulcans of Hawai‘i Hilo 2-1 and 9-3 in a home twinbill.

The two victories leaves HPU and Dixie State with identical 23-5 conference records, but the Sea Warriors earn the NCAA II automatic bid after beating the Red Storm three out of four games this season.

The title marks the fifth straight PacWest Championship for the Sea Warriors who have dominated the league since it reorganized under its current format in 2007.

Dixie State, however, becomes the first team other than HPU to earn a PacWest softball championship. The Red Storm is expected to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA II National Championship Tournament for the third straight season.

Hawai‘i Hilo entered the weekend ranked ninth in the NCAA II West Region Poll and is clinging to a possible post-season berth. The Vulcans face Chaminade on Sunday, May 1 to wrap up the regular season and must win both games to remain alive.

The 64-team NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament will be announced on Monday, May 9, at 10 a.m. EDT (8 a.m. MDT/4 a.m. HT).

The link to the selection show can be found on the NCAA website at http://www.ncaa.com/news/ncaa/2011-04-27/spring-championships-selections.