Held to four hits over six innings, the University of Hawaii softball team didn’t need a fifth to scratch out a game-winning rally on Friday.

The Rainbow Wahine trailed UTEP going into their final turn at-bat and tied the Miners on Lindsey Willmon’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly. After a walk filled the bases again, Keiki Carlos was hit by a pitch to force in Ulu Matagiese with the deciding run in UH’s 3-2 win in the Bank of Hawaii Invitational at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

"It works. We’ll take it," UH coach Bob Coolen said after the team’s third straight win. 

The Rainbow Wahine (8-4) will take on two nationally ranked teams in a doubleheader on Saturday. UH faces No. 19 UCF at 4 p.m. with a meeting with No. 16 Washington to follow.

UH was kept off balance by UTEP right-hander Kaitlin Fifield for much of Friday night and trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the seventh. Rachel Lack reached base on an error and Sarina Jaramillo followed with a bunt. The Miners tried to catch Lack at second but the throw was late. Matagiese was hit by a pitch to load the bases and the Miners got the first out when Fifield fielded a comebacker and threw to the plate. 

Willmon then lifted a line drive to center and pinch-runner Kiani Wong slid around the tag at the plate to score the tying run.

"I just had to keep myself calm and another thing I kept in mind was we had the bases loaded and they had nowhere to put me," Willmon said. "So I waited for a pitch that I needed to drive."

After Kayla Wartner drew a four-pitch walk, Carlos was credited with the game-winning RBI when she was hit in the leg.

"We’ll take it any way," Carlos said. "We can’t be satisfied with that. We have a lot more potential to hit the long ball or just hit in general so we just have to make the corrections coming into tomorrow."

The rally gave Kanani Aina Cabrales the win in relief of starter Brittany Hitchcock while Fifield took the loss in a complete-game effort.

An error to start the game set up UTEP’s first run and the Miners took a 2-0 lead. But the UH defense helped keep UTEP from extending the lead. 

With a runner on third and two out in the fourth, a sharp grounder ricocheted off of first baseman Leisha Li’ili’i to shortstop Sarina Jaramillo who threw back to Li’ili’i for the third out.

Speedy UTEP leadoff hitter Tahla Wade led off the top of the fifth with shot to the right-center gap, but UH second baseman Tayana Mata took the relay from Willmon and threw Wade out at third.

UH erased another UTEP baserunner in the top of the seventh when Hope Moreno singled to left and rounded first. Jaramillo took the throw from left and threw to Wartner who snuck in behind Moreno and tagged her for the out.

In the tournament’s opening game, ‘Iolani graduate Kimberlee Souza hit a solo home run to left with two out in the bottom of the sixth inning to give Washington the lead and the Huskies held on for a 4-3 win over UCF.

Kaitlin Fifield and Kaitlin Ryder. Brittany Hitchcock, Kanani Aina Cabrales (6) and Kayla Wartner. 

W–Cabrales. L–Fifield.

Leading hitters–UTEP: Tahla Wade, 2-4, 2B; Kawehiokalani Netane, RBI; Ashley Eldridge, 2-3; Taylor Sargent, RBI. Hawaii: Lindsey Willmon, RBI; Keiki Carlos, 2-3, RBI;  Heather Morales, RBI;

Saturday

UTEP vs. UCF, 11 a.m.

UTEP vs. Washington, 1:30 p.m.

UCF vs. Hawaii, 4 p.m.

Washington vs. Hawaii, 6 p.m.