The opportunity to upset the nation's top-ranked team was there.

The execution came up just a bit short.

Hawaii right-hander Stephanie Ricketts did just about all she could to give the Rainbow Wahine a shot at knocking off Washington last night in the Bank of Hawaii Invitational.

But after shutting out the defending national champions through 7 2/3 innings, the last of UH's five errors allowed the Huskies to scratch out a run in the top of the eighth and Washington escaped with a 1-0 win at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Ricketts held the Huskies to three hits and matched zeros with reigning national player of the year Danielle Lawrie through seven innings.

But Lawrie (11-0) stymied each of UH's scoring opportunities, stranding runners in scoring position in five of the last six innings, and struck out the side in the eighth to end the game.

“;I think it's just seeing what I want to happen before it happens and just taking more time and not rush,”; said Lawrie, who finished with 15 strikeouts. “;I just took some extra time and tried not to miss over the plate.”;

UH (11-7) will be the second seed in today's bracket portion of the tournament and will play East Carolina at 10 a.m. Washington (15-1) plays Seattle at noon.

The early-game losers meet at 2 p.m. The winners play for the championship at 4.

Ricketts (4-4) threw 4 2/3 innings of no-hit ball and escaped several jams—including a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the seventh—as the Huskies left nine runners on base before pushing the winning run over in the top of the eighth.

“;We had nothing to lose in that game, so we all played well; too bad it didn't go our way, though,”; Ricketts said.

“;It's hard not to notice that they are the No. 1 team in the nation, but we've pitched against other ranked teams, so when it comes down to it, it's just whoever plays best that day. They played better today.”;

The Wahine put runners in scoring position in the third through sixth innings, but couldn't break through against Lawrie.

UH's best chance came when Kelly Majam led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple down the right-field line. But Lawrie struck out Jessica Iwata, got Melissa Gonzalez to ground out to first and struck out Amanda Taualii swinging to send the game into the seventh still scoreless.

Ricketts then escaped the seventh unscathed and Lawrie mowed the Wahine down in the bottom of the inning to send the game into extra innings.

“;(Ricketts) was great,”; Washington coach Heather Tarr said. “;She throws hard, she was putting pitches in good spots. We hit a couple of balls hard, but credit to her she kept us in the ballpark.”;

With the tournament using international tie-breaking rules, the teams began their half of the inning with a runner on second base.

The Huskies moved Jenn Salling to third with two out, and got on the board when Iwata, the UH shortstop, couldn't handle Morgan Stewart's grounder.

Lawrie then ended it with three more strikeouts, seemingly picking up velocity with each passing inning.

“;She's pretty multi-dimensional, where she can go to more than just one thing,”; Tarr said. “;She feels it out, sees what works and uses what she needs.”;

Prior to facing the Huskies, the Wahine belted three home runs and Kaia Parnaby tossed a one-hitter in UH's 10-0 win over East Carolina in five innings.

Kanani Pu'u-Warren lined a three-run homer over the right-center-field fence to give UH a 6-0 lead in the third. Iwata hit a towering solo homer to left in the fourth and Traci Yoshikawa added a three-run shot later in the inning to bring the mercy rule into effect.

Parnaby (6-3) struck out four and walked one. Pearl City graduate Marina Gusman-Brown had ECU's lone hit, a single in the second.