Wahine await invitation

Hawaii softball coach Bob Coolen isn't a big fan of the underdog this week.

With the Rainbow Wahine hoping to nab an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, Coolen will be pulling for the top seeds to clinch automatic berths as he tracks the many conference tournaments going on across the country.

More surprises will likely mean fewer spots available for teams -- like Hawaii -- in need of an invitation from the selection committee.

"If there are a lot of upsets then we'll be left out," Coolen said. "We don't need a team to come out of nowhere as a sixth or seventh seed and win a championship."

After completing the regular season last week with a 31-21 record, UH's postseason fate is out of its control as the Wahine await Sunday's announcement of the 64-team NCAA tournament field.

It seemed unlikely UH would be considered for the postseason a month ago after the Wahine were swept at home by Fresno State to fall to 20-20 overall and 1-5 in the Western Athletic Conference.

They put themselves back into NCAA consideration by winning 11 of their last 12 games, including six on the road, to close the regular season.

Now all the UH players and coaches can do is wait and wonder if their late-season run was enough to secure the program's seventh trip to the regionals.

"We did enough to put us on the bubble," Coolen said, "not to give us a definite bid, but just to give us hope.

"There's nothing we can do. We can't get a phone call this week saying, 'You have to win three out of four against this team.' We don't have that luxury, in years past we did. ... Our destiny is now in the hands of every other team out there still playing."

Fresno State (20-6, 14-1) earned the WAC's automatic berth by winning the conference championship for the eighth time in the last 10 years.

Coolen concedes history is working against the Wahine as the WAC hasn't had much luck getting a second NCAA berth over the years. Last season, Tulsa was left out despite a 45-18 record and a second-place WAC finish.

Close to a dozen games rained out doesn't help UH's case either. But Coolen hopes the committee will consider UH's performance down the stretch and its strength of schedule when it hands out the at-large berths.

In the meantime, the Wahine continue to hold workouts this week in case they are granted a spot in the regionals.

After posting a .194 team batting average in their first six WAC games, the Wahine hit .370 and outscored their opponents 74-14 over the final 12 contests. They finished at a league-best .313 in conference contests.

Senior catcher Denise Dahlberg hit .400 in WAC competition and outfielder Tracie Uchima finished at a career-high .327 overall. Pitcher Melissa Coogan won her last five decisions to go 16-9 with a 1.74 earned-run average.

Sophomore first baseman Tyleen Tausaga (.391) galvanized the team by predicting a perfect end to the season following the Fresno State series, and junior outfielder Tara Harbert went 15-for-29 over the last 11 games to finish at .423 (41-for-97).

As the Wahine hope to extend their hot hitting into the postseason, Coolen will spend much of the week online, keeping an eye on the outcomes of the other conference tournaments. He said he'll have a pretty good idea of his team's chances by Saturday afternoon.

"I'll be watching all of those," he said. "I'll be glued to my computer."