Wahine await word on postseason

Two losses on Friday left the University of Hawaii softball team without much to do but wait around on Saturday.

The Rainbow Wahine were eliminated from the Western Athletic Conference tournament after losing leads twice in Friday’s semifinal round in Las Cruces, N.M. UH head coach Bob Coolen said the team had standing plans to return to Honolulu today and would learn of its postseason fate upon landing.

UH’s losses Friday — 6-4 to Brigham Young and 9-7 to Fresno State — were the program’s final WAC games after a 16-year stay in the conference and left the Wahine hoping for an at-large berth into the 64-team NCAA tournament.

The Wahine are scheduled to depart New Mexico this morning and, barring delays, should be somewhere over the Pacific on their way back from Los Angeles when the NCAA softball selection show airs on ESPNU today at 4 p.m.

The Wahine (44-7) won the WAC regular-season championship and entered the week tied for 11th in the USA Today/NFCA coaches poll and 13th in the ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings. More significant to the selection process, they were No. 20 in the NCAA RPI prior to the WAC tournament.

Even so, Coolen wasn’t taking anything for granted after the Wahine fell short of reaching the tournament final.

"You would hope we did enough with the wins we have, beating No. 1 Cal, two wins over Florida State, DePaul, and all the other wins along the way," Coolen said in a phone interview from Las Cruces. "But I’m not going to sit here and say it’s a shoo-in. That’s how it is every year, you never know."

UH, which peaked at No. 10 in the RPI this season, submitted a bid to host one of the 16 four-team regionals and Coolen said he’d received indications that the Wahine might have had a chance to play at home had they won the WAC tournament and earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

An NCAA rule gives the 16 seeded teams the opportunity to host a regional if they meet the bid requirements.

"We may have been there before (Friday), but I have no idea after (Friday)," Coolen said.

"If we do touch down and they say we’re coming back to the mainland, that’s a lot of planning."

BYU earned the WAC’s automatic bid with an 8-3 win over Fresno State on Saturday. BYU finished second in the regular season and swept through the WAC tournament to secure a spot in the field. Fresno State entered the tournament at No. 63 in the RPI, which could threaten the Bulldogs’ streak of 30 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.

The WAC has placed two teams in the NCAA tournament six of the past seven years. The exception was in 2008, when the league had four berths.

Coolen was also keeping an eye on developments within the region, particularly the Big West, where Long Beach State clinched the title on Saturday.

"There’s just a lot going on, a lot things being determined (yesterday) and quite a few being determined (today)," he said.

UH ended the week in Las Cruces by claiming two more awards, as UH shortstop Jessica Iwata and center fielder Kelly Majam were named to the all-tournament team.