Shortly after closing out her second win of the day, Sherise Musquiz reflected on the prospect of capping her college softball career at the NCAA Division II national championship.

“;It awesome for us to end like this,”; the Hawaii Pacific University senior said before quickly catching herself.

“;It's not over though.”;

Facing elimination after a shutout loss to Chico State to open the best-of-three super regional on Friday, the Sea Warriors stayed alive with an 11-2 win over the Wildcats to force a decisive final at Howard A. Okita Field in Kaneohe.

HPU, the top-ranked team in the west region, then earned a spot in the Division II national championship with a 5-3 victory behind Musquiz's second complete-game performance of the afternoon.

The Sea Warriors will next head to St. Joseph, Mo., for the NCAA Elite 8, which opens Thursday.

“;It's not only for HPU,”; Sea Warriors head coach Bryan Nakasone said. “;It's a great thing for our program, but it's good for all of Hawaii collegiate softball.”;

HPU will face Wayne State (52-11) of Detroit. The Warriors, ranked seventh nationally, play in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

As she did in the West 2 regional a week earlier, Musquiz threw every pitch for HPU (46-8) in the super regional. She needed just 65 to get through yesterday's first game, which ended after five innings due to the eight-run mercy rule.

Musquiz worked out of jams late in the final, as Chico State put the tying runs on base in the sixth and seventh innings. But Musquiz sealed the Sea Warriors' trip to Missouri when she fielded Rebecca Johnson's grounder on her 129th pitch of the game, ending it with one more toss to first.

HPU mustered just four hits off Chico State freshman Kacie McCarthy in a 5-0 loss on Friday. HPU finally broke through with four runs in the third inning of yesterday's opener, two coming in on Kozy Toriano's triple into the right-field corner.

The Sea Warriors added four more in the fourth, three coming on bases-loaded walks, and put the game away with a two-run fifth.

“;(Friday) we came out flat,”; said freshman catcher Nicole Morrow, who went 4-for-8 and drove in four runs in the doubleheader. “;We knew everything was on the line and we came out of yesterday saying we had to dig deep and believe in it. We were a different team than yesterday.”;

Chico State took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first in the winner-take-all finale only to see HPU answer with four runs in the bottom of the inning.

Leadoff hitter Ciera Senas reached on an error and beat the throw to second on Casey Sugihara's grounder to third. Two wild pitches allowed Senas to score, and Morrow delivered an RBI single to center to score Sugihara. Morrow later scored from third when Breanne Patton's looper fell in behind a drawn-in infield.

The Sea Warriors' lead grew to 5-1 in the fourth when Sugihara doubled to left and Morrow followed one out later with a double into the gap in left-center.

“;Sometimes we just get so antsy and so anxious we don't hit like we usually do,”; Morrow said. “;Today I think we were more patient and more selective with our hitting. We kept hitting down on the ball instead of popping it up.”;

Chico State closed to 5-3 by stringing together four singles with two out in the fifth. The Wildcats put two runners on in the sixth before Musquiz ended the threat by striking out Charlotte Honciano. Chico State had runners on first and third with two out in the seventh before Musquiz induced Johnson's comebacker.

“;There was pressure, but we just have to play our game,”; Musquiz said. “;I was going to pitch to contact and let the defense work and they did it today.”;