North Carolina jumped ahead of Hawaii early in a blowout win in the Tar Heels’ first meeting with the Rainbow Wahine on Saturday.

They then pulled away late in the rematch to earn a spot in the Bank of Hawaii Invitational championship game while sending the Rainbow Wahine to their third straight loss.

North Carolina’s Amber Parrish hit two home runs and Lori Spingola held UH to one hit in the Tar Heels’ 9-0 win in five innings to complete the round-robin portion of the tournament and secure the top seed in the bracket.

UH, the fourth seed, took a 3-0 lead in the bracket game, but North Carolina scored seven runs in its last two turns at bat on its way to a 9-3 win.

North Carolina (6-6) will face San Jose State for the tournament championship at 10 a.m. Sunday. UH (8-6) takes on Saint Mary’s in the third-place game scheduled for noon.

UH sophomore Keiki Carlos threw 3 2/3 innings of relief in Saturday’s first game, then went the distance in the second game in her first start since Feb. 15 of last year.

Carlos’ previous high in college was 4 1/3 innings last year against Long Beach State, and she threw her first complete game since the state championship game during her senior year at Mid-Pacific.

"I felt a lot more confident tonight than I did (in a relief appearance on Friday)," Carlos said. "Our defense was solid, I just have to be a little more conditioned so I can last the whole game."

Parrish went 4-for-6 and drove in five runs in the doubleheader, while leadoff hitter Aquilla Mateen went a combined 6-for-7 and scored four runs to ignite the North Carolina offense.

Parrish hit her first home run in UNC’s five-run first inning against UH starter Heather Morales in Saturday’s first game and went deep again in the second inning to give the Tar Heels a 6-0 lead.

Spingola took care of the rest in allowing just three baserunners while striking out 11 in North Carolina’s third straight shutout in the tournament.

UH was the designated visiting team for the bracket game and broke the Tar Heels’ scoreless innings streak with three runs on five singles in the top of the first inning. Leisha Li’ili’i opened the scoring with an RBI single through the right side of the infield and Sharla Kliebenstein was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. With two out, Ulu Matagiese bounced a single up the middle to drive in UH’s third run before Jazmine Zamora was thrown out at the plate.

Carlos gave up a run in the bottom of the first, but maintained the lead into the fifth inning thanks in part to two double plays. She fielded a grounder to start the first and UH got out of the fourth inning when Matagiese caught a fly ball and threw a runner out at third.

But North Carolina put together a three-run rally in the bottom of the fifth, tying the game on Mateen’s RBI single and going ahead on Parrish’s two-out single to left field.

North Carolina pulled away with four more runs in the sixth, highlighted by Darby Rosen’s two-run homer. Ashley Bone picked up the win with 6 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

With UH sophomore Loie Kesterson nursing a sore arm and the Wahine short on pitching, "I kind of knew I had to go the whole way," Carlos said.

"We know what we have to work on. We just need to be stronger and we’ll come back."

Lori Spingola and Amber Parrish. Heather Morales, Keiki Carlos (2) and Kayla Wartner.  W–Spingola. L–Morales.

Leading hitters–UNC: Aquilla Mateen, 3-4; Amy Nece, 3B, 2 RBIs; Jenna Kelly, RBI; Parrish, 2 HR, 3 RBI; Kristen Brown, HR; Lauren Walker, RBI.

Lauren Batten, Ashley Bone (1) and Jillian Ferraro. Keiki Carlos and Sharla Kliebenstein. W–Bone. L–Carlos.

Leading hitters–Hawaii: Leisha Li’ili’i, RBI; Jazmine Zamora, 2-3;  Sharla Kliebenstein, RBI; Ulu Matagiese RBI.

UNC: Aquilla Mateen, 3-3, RBI; Jenna Kelly, 2B, RBI; Amber Parrish, 2-3, 2 RBIs; Kendra Lynch, 2-2, 2B; Kristen Brown, 2-4, 2 2B, RBI; Darby Rosen, HR, 2 RBIs; Erin Satterfield, 2-3; Jordan Scarboro, RBI.

Saturday

San Jose State 8, Saint Mary’s 2

North Carolina 9, Hawaii 0, 5 innings

San Jose State 3, Saint Mary’s 0

North Carolina 9, Hawaii 3

Sunday

Championship: North Carolina vs. San Jose State, 10 a.m.

Third-place: St. Mary’s vs. Hawaii, noon