LAS CRUCES, N.M. » No lead was safe for the Hawaii softball team on Friday.

Fresno State scored nine unanswered runs to erase a 6-0 Hawaii lead and eliminate the top-seeded Rainbow Wahine with a 9-7 victory in a Western Athletic Conference Tournament elimination game at the New Mexico State University Softball Complex.

UH (44-7) had dropped into the loser’s bracket with a 6-4 loss to BYU earlier in the day. The Wahine couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead in the loss to the second-seeded Cougars.

"Obviously one of our goals was to sweep this tournament," Hawaii outfielder Kelly Majam said. "We fell short, but everyone is 0-0 in the postseason. These losses don’t matter in regionals but winning here would have been the icing on the cake."

The third-seeded Bulldogs scored four runs in the third and added five runs on five hits against Hawaii senior Stephanie Ricketts in the fifth inning.

"I think that our team is not used to teams hitting our pitchers," said Majam, who was 2-for-4 with three RBIs against Fresno State. "We scored early, but couldn’t hang onto it."

While Hawaii awaits the NCAA tournament selection on Sunday, Fresno State advanced to play BYU in its fourth consecutive WAC tournament championship game.

"Fresno State was fighting for a bid to the NCAA," Hawaii coach Bob Coolen said. "So I wasn’t confident up 6-0. Maybe if it had been 8-0."

Coolen said that travel the past two weeks finally took its toll on his club, particularly in the circle and finding timely hitting as the Rainbow Wahine stranded 22 runners in two games on Friday.

"We are at the end of a long journey," Coolen said. "Those long road trips will take their toll on you."

Freshman pitcher Kaia Parnaby had a 0.95 ERA heading into Friday’s games, but was ineffective in Las Cruces, allowing nine runs in 21/3 innings in two starts.

Parnaby surrendered a three-run lead against BYU and let Fresno State get into the game in the third inning, loading the bases with no outs.

"Kaia was not where she should have been," Coolen said. "It’s just a matter of elevating her game when the going gets tough and making the corrections."

Sharla Kliebenstein and Majam each hit three-run homers in the third for a 6-0 lead that knocked Fresno State starter Michelle Moses from the game.

The lead was short lived, as Fresno State loaded the bases against Parnaby to open the third.

Unlike the loss against BYU, Ricketts couldn’t keep the opponent off the scoreboard. Ricketts allowed six runs on eight hits in three innings as she suffered her fourth loss of the season to fall to 28-4.

After Ricketts replaced Parnaby in the bottom of the third, Fresno State strung together three hits to close to 6-4.

In the fifth, Moses tied the score at 6 with a two-run home run to right field as Fresno State sent 10 hitters to the plate for five runs and a 9-6 lead going into the sixth inning.

In UH’s first game, BYU sent 10 hitters to the plate in the first inning, knocking Parnaby from the game after a Krista Hicks three-run home run to right-center that put the Cougars up

6-3. Parnaby gave up six runs and four hits before Ricketts replaced her and struck out six the rest of the way.