For the third time in her career, Jessica Iwata stepped up to the plate with a chance to provide a celebratory end to senior day.

For the third time, she delivered.

In her final swing at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium, the University of Hawaii senior shortstop blasted a home run to center field to punctuate a doubleheader sweep of UC Santa Barbara on Saturday and close her career on her home field.

"It’s indescribable," Iwata said. "It’s awesome to be able to end like that."

Iwata’s homer, her second of the day, capped a Wahine power surge that carried them to an 11-9 win in Saturday’s first game and an 8-0 victory in five innings in their home finale.

"That was unreal," UH head coach Bob Coolen said. "Half the team started crying the minute the ball was hit."

No. 19/23 UH launched five homers in support of senior pitcher Kaia Parnaby in the opener, and hit four more in the second game as the Wahine (40-11, 17-4 Big West) secured the series win and clinched at least a tie for first place in the conference standings.

The Wahine can secure the conference title outright if second-place Long Beach State — which holds the tiebreaker over UH — loses to UC Davis today or with one win in their series at Pacific later this week.

UH saw the lead shrink after dropping Friday’s series opener 4-1 in nine innings. The Wahine then fell behind early in Saturday’s first game as the Gauchos jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 6-4 in the first three innings against Parnaby.

But UH’s home run barrage sent the left-hander to her 35th win of the season, tying the Big West’s single-season record, despite giving up nine runs on 15 hits.

"The way we fought back in that game, I couldn’t ask for anything better," Parnaby said. "I didn’t have my best outing, but it may be the best game we’ve played because we did have each other’s back."

Sharla Kliebenstein ignited the UH offense in both games, erasing UCSB’s lead in the first game with a three-run homer in the second inning. She later gave the Wahine the lead in the finale with another three-run shot. Sophomore Kayla Wartner and junior Jazmine Zamora also homered in both games and drove in nine runs between them.

Senior center fielder Kelly Majam homered in the second inning of the opener against UCSB pitcher Shelby Wisdom, who earned a complete-game win against the Wahine on Friday but gave up 10 runs on 11 hits on Saturday.

"Seeing the same pitcher twice never gets past us. We always hit better seeing the girl twice, especially in the daytime," Majam said. "I knew we were going to come out firing."

Coolen gave freshman Loie Kesterson, who struggled last week against Long Beach State, the start in the second game, and she responded by holding the Gauchos to four hits in her first collegiate shutout.

"All I told her was, ‘Have the game of your life,’ " Coolen said. "She flushed last week, which was great."

Home runs from Kliebenstein, Wartner and Zamora gave Kesterson a 7-0 cushion and brought the eight-run rule within sight.

Iwata came up with two out in the fifth and ended it with the 55th home run of her career.

"I wasn’t trying to hit a home run," Iwata said. "I knew I could end the game, but sometimes I get too much into my head, so once I get into the box I don’t think. I just see the ball and hit it."

There was a sense of symmetry to Iwata’s blast. She ended senior night with a walk-off homer against Fresno State her freshman year. As a sophomore, her seventh-inning single gave UH a win over New Mexico State.

So her teammates had a sense of what might be coming next.

"We knew when she got up it was gonna be game over," Parnaby said, "because it’s her last at-bat on this field and she went out in Jessica Iwata style."