Thanks to a freshman, Hawaii could truly savor senior night.

After Fresno State doggedly rallied to spoil Hawaii's quest for conference perfection, freshman shortstop Jessica Iwata punctuated the regular season with a walk-off home run to lift the Rainbow Wahine to a 5-4 win over the rival Bulldogs in the finale of yesterday's doubleheader.

“;It was so appropriate,”; first baseman Amanda Taualii said, peeking over a pile of lei amid the senior celebration. “;We went into that last huddle and said, 'let's do this right here.' Jess went out there and smacked a homer and it was an awesome great feeling.

“;There was so much emotion, it was insane out there.”;

No. 20 Hawaii (41-12, 19-1 Western Athletic Conference) had secured the league's regular-season title and the top seed in the upcoming WAC tournament with a 5-0 win over the Bulldogs (34-16, 13-5) on Friday. But there remained enough drama to keep the capacity crowd at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on edge throughout the afternoon and evening.

Fresno State turned the tables on the nation's home run leaders in hitting four long balls to rally from a 6-0 deficit and stun the Wahine 9-7 in the opener.

Bulldogs catcher Caitlin Stiglich provided the most telling blows with a game-tying grand slam in the fifth and a decisive two-out three-run shot in the seventh off UH freshman Kaia Parnaby (18-6) to end Hawaii's school-record 18-game winning streak.

Fresno State was again down to its last strike before Brooke Phipps hit a game-tying solo homer in the seventh inning of the nightcap. But Iwata answered in the bottom of the inning, lining a shot that barely cleared the fence in left-center to give the Wahine their third series victory over Fresno State in the last four years.

“;It meant a lot. It's been a long journey and we became a family,”; Iwata said of sending the seniors off in style. “;I was struggling a bit the first and second game, that was my only hit today. But it was amazing.”;

Iwata's homer—UH's 125th of the season—set the tone for the senior ceremony honoring Taualii, Katie Grimes, Kanani Pu'u-Warren, Tasha Pagdilao and Traci Yoshikawa.

Coming off Friday's clinching win, the Wahine jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning of yesterday's first game highlighted by Melissa Gonzalez's two-run homer and Taualii's two-run single.

Andrea Ortega and Michelle Moses ignited Fresno State's comeback with back-to-back homers in the third and Stiglich tied the game with a two-out grand slam in the top of the fifth.

The Wahine reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the sixth on Pu'u-Warren's RBI single to right to score Pagdilao from second.

It appeared Parnaby might escape the seventh when UH center fielder Kelly Majam made a shoestring catch of Ortega's line drive and doubled off Fresno State's Haley Gilleland off first. But Moses and Courtney Moore singled and Stiglich launched a 2-2 pitch from Parnaby out to center.

The Wahine put the tying runs on base with two out in the bottom of the inning, but Fresno State's Morgan Melloh (15-8) got Gonzalez to strike out swinging to end the game and UH's winning streak.

Although the loss cost the Wahine a shot at a perfect run through the conference, head coach Bob Coolen said the experience could prove beneficial as they enter tournament play.

“;One loss may have developed this tenacious attitude that we can't let up in games,”; Coolen said. “;We need to have that instinct where when we get an opportunity to put a team away, put them away.”;

In the second game, UH took a 2-0 lead with the aid of three Fresno State errors and Stephanie Ricketts (22-6) retired the first 10 Bulldogs in order.

Fresno State ended Ricketts' streak of scoreless innings at 20 by tying the game in the top of the fourth. The Wahine answered in the fifth when Majam drove in Traci Yoshikawa with a double off the top of the left-field fence and later scored on Jenna Rodriguez's single to right.

The Bulldogs scratched out a run in the sixth and Phipps, the Bulldogs' ninth-place hitter, tied it with her third homer of the season. But that only set up Iwata's shot off Melloh in the bottom of the inning.

The Wahine have a week off before opening the WAC tournament on May 12 in Las Cruces, NM.