Pretty much since they first met on a 12-and-under softball team in Mililani, Ciera Senas has been penciled into the leadoff spot followed by Casey Sugihara.

They held those roles through highly successful high school careers at Mililani and four more years at Hawaii Pacific University.

The HPU seniors will cap their careers at the NCAA Division II softball national championship in St. Joseph, Mo., punctuating the Sea Warriors' landmark season and their longtime connection at the top of the order.

“;It's sad thinking about it,”; Senas said. “;But I'm just more overwhelmed by the fact that we're here and have the best opportunity we could ever want for ourselves.”;

The Sea Warriors (46-8) face Wayne State (52-11) today at noon Hawaii time. Angelo State (48-13) and Metro State (51-4) meet in the other first-round game in Bracket 2. Today's winners meet tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. The losers face an elimination game on Saturday.

Today's Bracket 1 games feature North Georgia (50-0) against Molloy (43-19) and Valdosta State (47-8) against Bloomsburg (49-6).

The Sea Warriors arrived in Missouri on Tuesday night after a trek that stretched more than 24 hours due to a 6-hour delay in Honolulu and another 8-hour wait in Minneapolis before heading to Kansas City.

So while the team has the national championship in mind, the “;just happy to be here”; cliche resonated with the travel party.

“;It gave us a lot of time to just think about why we're coming and what we have to do,”; Sugihara said.

Senas and Sugihara ignite an HPU offense that is hitting .309 entering the tournament. Senas is hitting .346 and is perfect in 16 stolen-base attempts. Sugihara follows at .331 ahead of the middle of the lineup led by Maile Kim (.372, 47 RBIs).

“;Both of them have set the tone really well,”; HPU coach Bryan Nakasone said. “;I think they're really focused on accomplishing their long-term goal and that's to win the national championship.

“;They've got speed, they've got different weapons they can use and we've got power behind them.”;

Sugihara, primarily a second baseman, started at third in HPU's 5-3 win over Chico State last Saturday to clinch the super regional and a berth in the elite eight. In the top of the first, she felt her shoulder “;pop out”; while diving for a ground ball, but stayed in the game. She later doubled and scored an insurance run in the fourth.

“;Now it doesn't really matter,”; Sugihara said of the injury. “;I have to do what I have to do regardless of how much it hurts.”;

Senas dealt with pain of her own earlier this year with the passing of her father, Chad, following a battle with cancer.

“;I put it out there where I wanted to dedicate it to him more and I know he'd be proud of me and how much I accomplished, especially graduating and getting this far in softball,”; Senas said.

Senas and Sugihara are part of a five-member senior class that still recalls the 2008 season, when the Sea Warriors went 43-5-1 but were denied a spot in the regionals. That memory lingers even as the Sea Warriors enter the final phase of the season.

“;That's still in our mind, having that kind of record and not getting to regionals,”; Sugihara said. “;But now that we did get our chance, this is our time to prove ourselves and show the rest of the teams and the nation that we deserve to be here.”;

Wayne State, the top-ranked team in the Midwest region, is led by pitcher Casey Hanes (42-6). The senior appeared in 56 of Wayne State's 63 games and has tossed 19 shutouts. She enters the tournament with a 0.53 ERA — best in Division II — and 355 strikeouts in 314 2/3 innings.

But other than the stats, “;we know nothing about them,”; Nakasone said.

“;But then we didn't know anything about Chico either. We lost the first game to Chico and we can't do that here, because it's a long road back.”;