Wahine clinch BWC

With a win on Friday, the "what ifs" facing the University of Hawaii softball team turned into "what’s next?"

The Rainbow Wahine captured the Big West Conference championship and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with a 3-1 win over Pacific in the first game of a doubleheader in Stockton, Calif.

Having secured the program’s sixth conference title — its second as a Big West member — No. 20/24-ranked UH then completed the sweep with a 5-2 win.

UH’s first victory on Friday eased the pressure on the second and today’s regular-season finale at UOP’s Bill Simoni Field. UH (42-11, 19-4 Big West) will learn on Sunday where it will go for the NCAA regionals, which begin next week.

UH last won the Big West in 1994 and claimed four Western Athletic Conference titles in 16 years of membership. This year’s championship is the program’s third in the last four years and marked the first time UH captured titles in consecutive years.

"Since we were missing so many moving parts coming out of graduation and the program losing nine players (last year), we didn’t know how this senior class would step up, and I think they answered that call today and all year," UH coach Bob Coolen said. "It’s a tribute to them and the underclassmen who have become an integral part."

UH second baseman Jazmine Zamora’s tie-breaking, two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning was the difference in Friday’s title-clinching win. Senior Kaia Parnaby earned the complete-game victory to improve to 36-5. The left-hander finished with five strikeouts and walked none while breaking the Big West’s single-season wins record, previously held by Cal Poly Pomona’s Rhonda Wheatley since 1987.

Coolen said he gave Parnaby the game ball and, "I just told her ‘this is a milestone, you’ve carried us.’ "

UOP took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, and Keiki Carlos tied the score with a sacrifice fly to center field in the third.

With two out and a runner on first in the sixth, Zamora launched her sixth home run of the season to give UH the lead for good.

"We knew we needed that one win and we wanted to do it then and there," said Zamora, who is 9-for-13 with three home runs and nine RBIs over her last four games.

"I’ve just been feeling really good in the box and she threw me inside and I love the inside pitch. I was aggressive and I swung at it. I actually thought it was a pop-up, but when it went out I was pretty excited."

Given a two-run lead, "Kaia elevated from there," Coolen said.

Parnaby finished off her 36th complete game of the season with a game-ending double play in the seventh, snagging a line drive and throwing to first for the final out.

"She was throwing harder, her change-up was working and then for her to turn the double play at the end was amazing," Coolen said. "What a fitting away to end the game."

Pacific again took a 1-0 lead in the second game before UH broke away with a four-run third inning. Carlos gave UH the lead with a two-run homer, and Zamora added a two-run double. Leisha Li’ili’i capped the scoring with a solo home run, her 12th of the season, in the seventh.

UH freshman Loie Kesterson (4-4) then finished out her second straight complete-game win, posting three strikeouts and two walks.

"Loie came through again," Coolen said. "She went out and did a nice job. We came back and responded and it worked out well."

The Wahine and Tigers (28-27, 12-11) conclude the regular season today with a single game starting at 9 a.m. Hawaii time.