Scratching his 3-week-old beard, Coolen said, "This is in honor of the winning streak. It's not coming off until we lose."

The Rainbows appeared ready to take it on the chinny-chin-chin before finally solving the riddle of right-handed pitcher Carol Forbes.

The Rainbows tied it at 1 in the bottom of the seventh when Gould lined a double to right-center and then scored on a head-first slide following first baseman Tyleen Tausaga's single to center.

In the extra inning, UH rightfielder Tracie Uchima reached first when leftfielder Jana Arde dropped a fly ball but recovered to throw out Tara Harbert at second. "I was thinking, 'Bummer, I should have hit that better,' " Uchima said. "It was just a change-up sitting there up high."

Catcher Denise Dahlberg then beat out a grounder to deep short, advancing Uchima to second — and into both scoring position and spying range.

UH bench coach John Nakamura had noticed the Spartans were tipping off pitches by the way the infielders and catcher shifted.

"The catcher's signals were easy to pick up," Uchima said. "If she wanted it inside or outside, I would point my hand in the general spot it would be."

The left-handed Gould was guessing an inside pitch when she noticed Uchima pointing toward the outside part of the plate.

"She was letting me know (the pitch) was going outside, so I started thinking outside all of the way," Gould recalled. "I went with it."

As the ball sliced down the left-field line, Coolen knew the outcome was sealed. That's because Coolen had earlier detected that Arde, who started in center before moving to left field at the start of the seventh inning, appeared to be babying her right arm. He tested his theory when he successfully instructed pinch-runner Jennifer Hackett to tag from second on a flyout to left in the seventh inning. Uchima easily scored the winning run.

"In warmups and between innings, (Arde) never threw a ball," Coolen said. "She was really wringing out her arm. I don't know if it was sore or not."

Meanwhile, UH starting pitcher Melissa Coogan's right arm gained strength as the game progressed. After relinquishing Kristy Ballinger's first home run of the season, in the second, Coogan settled down, baffling the Spartans with sinkers, inside pitches to left-handed batters and change-ups aimed at the outside corners.

"I started the game a little nervous," Coogan said. "The first couple of innings I was really off. After I got over it, I got back to my regular routine."

Coogan (15-9), who will pitch the second game of today's doubleheader, allowed four hits — including one in the final five innings — and struck out four. She retired 15 in a row before relinquishing a two-out walk in the eighth inning.