It’ll be a farewell weekend at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

As the University of Hawaii seniors play their final regular-season series at home, the three-game set also marks Fresno State’s last appearance in Honolulu as a Western Athletic Conference member.

The rivalry with the Bulldogs dates back to their days in the Big West and has highlighted UH’s WAC schedule since they were reunited in the league in 1997. The programs will split off after this season when Hawaii rejoins the Big West and Fresno State heads to the Mountain West Conference.

Both have positioned themselves to wave good-bye to the WAC toting one more regular-season title, and this week’s series between the league’s top two teams will give one a considerable edge in that race.

"It’s both of our last seasons in the WAC, so both sides want this series more than anything," UH pitcher Stephanie Ricketts said. "So it’s going to be fun."

Fresno State (31-17, 11-2 WAC) arrived in town a half-game ahead of Hawaii (37-5, 11-3 WAC) atop the league standings and owns a sizable lead in the all-time series at 65-19. The Bulldogs added four wins last year with a regular-season sweep in Fresno, Calif., and a win in the WAC tournament that ended UH’s season.

This year, the Wahine have spent the past 10 weeks in the national polls, checking in at Nos. 14 and 17 this week, and began the week 18th in the NCAA RPI. Fresno State enters the series just outside the USA Today/NFCA coaches poll and 61st in the NCAA RPI, adding to the importance of this weekend for a program that has participated in all 30 NCAA regionals.

"We’re facing a very good team that’s under-ranked right now because Fresno has a premier pitcher and they have all the ingredients of a good ballclub," UH head coach Bob Coolen said. "They’re always competitive. We’ve got our work cut out for us."

UH and Fresno State top the WAC in earned-run average, with the Wahine led by Ricketts (23-3, 0.97) and Kaia Parnaby (14-2, 1.11) and Fresno State countering with Michelle Moses (20-11, 1.80) and Mackenzie Oakes (9-4, 2.88).

Moses, the reigning WAC Pitcher of the Week, threw a no-hitter against UH last year and also ranks among the WAC’s top offensive threats with a league-high 16 home runs.

Fresno State has won 10 WAC regular-season titles, but only one since 2006, when the Bulldogs shared the top spot with Nevada in 2009. UH won titles in 2007 and 2010, winning home series against Fresno State both times.

Like this week, those series also coincided with UH’s senior day. The Rainbow Wahine seniors will be honored after Saturday’s doubleheader, but those festivities will stay in the background until the games are decided.

"I think I’ve pitched in big games with big distractions," Ricketts said. "I’ve pitched in the world series, I’ve pitched against my sister, I’ve pitched against No. 1 teams in the nation. Just those experiences where my emotions were just through the roof and I didn’t think I would be able to control them and I was able to stay within myself and pitch, I think that’s what’s going to help me when I go out there."