With UH down 1-0, Denise Dahlberg opened the fifth with a bunt single and sprinted to third when the throw flew into right field. A foulout and two flies later Kristina Thorson, one of four Cal All-Americans, was resting her right arm again.

The three-hit gap sounds small but looms large for Hawai'i (8-7). It is 2-1 in its tournament going into this afternoon's game against seventh-ranked Alabama. The 'Bows conclude pool play at 7 p.m. against Portland State. The tournament ends tomorrow.

"We are having a having a tough time getting over that hump against a team that really comes at us," UH coach Bob Coolen said. "Tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day because Alabama is a very good team and Portland State always comes at us."

Hawai'i is 1-4 this season against ranked teams, the lone win coming against then-No. 9 Washington a month ago.

The Huskies have dropped five spots since. Cal (14-1) has also dropped. It was No. 1 until a loss to Texas A&M.

The Golden Bears have eight starters back from last year's team, which ended up in the NCAA Championship final a third straight year. They beat teams the way they took out UH last night on a relentless basis.

Thorson (6-0) was particularly tough. Noelle Izumi had the 'Bows' only other three hits, and never got past first. But Thorson was at her fiercest after Dahlberg's dived into third.

"She loves that situation actually," Cal coach Diane Ninemire said. "She thrives on it. She has so much confidence in herself that when she's in a situation with a runner on third or the bases loaded, it's between her and the batter and she's very confident she can win that situation. She lives for it."

Melissa Coogan (4-3) held the Bears, batting .300-plus, to six hits. They needed four, scoring both times runners reached second.

Kaleo Eldredge, an All-American out of Baldwin High School, has started for Cal in all three championship finals. The Golden Bears won the national title when she was a freshman and lost to UCLA the past two years.

The Rainbows ripped Delaware State, 9-1, in their first game, which ended after six innings because of the eight-run mercy rule.

All-WAC outfielder Tracie Uchima, who flew in yesterday after interviewing at veterinary schools on the Mainland, came on to pinch-hit in the fifth and slapped a single over the second baseman, eventually scoring on Tyleen Tausaga's sacrifice fly to make it 3-1. Uchima went 2 for 2 and scored twice.

UH freshman Louise Harriden, from Australia, instigated the beginning of the end when she blasted her first collegiate homer to make it 5-1 in the sixth. The 'Bows added four more runs to end it. Shannon Tabion (3-2) had nine strikeouts and stranded six in her five-hitter.

NOTES

Noteworthy: Melissa Coogan's no-hitter against Mount St. Mary's Thursday gave the UH senior 59 wins and moved her into second on the career list, past Australian Olympian Brooke Wilkins.

Showdown: Second-ranked Cal takes on seventh-ranked Alabama, which has reached the NCAA regional final the last two years, at approximately 3 p.m. today.

March madness: The Rainbow Wahine host the Hawaiian Airlines Spring Fling Tournament next week (March 9-12).