Energized by solar power, the Hawai'i softball team yesterday swept San Jose State, 3-1 and 9-6, to give Bob Coolen the 700th victory of his coaching career.

"That's getting up there, for sure," said Coolen, who is 700-471-1 overall, including 628-378-1 in 16 seasons at UH.

"I had no idea," he said of the milestone. "They keep everything secret from me, so that's fine."

The Rainbows nearly made sure that Coolen's induction into the 700 Club would be delayed. The Spartans parlayed four UH errors into a three-run fifth inning to take a 6-3 lead in the yesterday's second game.

"We haven't (rallied) a lot this season," third baseman Clare Warwick said. "I was hoping to do something to get things going."

Warwick put a down payment on a comeback with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth.

The Rainbows then loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth. That brought up Kate Robinson, who moved to first base from the mound after giving up three runs in two innings.

"I had to do something for redemption," Robinson said.

She then chopped an 0-1 pitch into center field, bringing home Tanisha Milca and Kaulana Gould to tie it at 6.

Warwick then hit a grounder to third baseman Danielle Brown, who threw across the diamond. But first baseman Natasha Hawkins could not see the ball in the glare of the late-afternoon sun. The ball sailed past Hawkins, allowing Brandi Peiler to race home with the go-ahead run.

"That's what you get for home-field advantage, I suppose," Warwick said, smiling. "It sucks, but it worked for us. Win some, lose some."

Coolen, who doubles as the third-base coach, said the setting sun "was huge."

"That's something (the Spartan coaches) didn't even discuss in warmups or anything," Coolen added. "When (Brown) brought that ball over, there was no way (to throw out Warwick). It was right in the middle of the sun, that angle. I looked behind me, and I'm like, 'if a ball comes back here, it's going to be tough for them to see.' I knew that."

The Spartans did not have a clue because their dugout, which is on the third-base side, faces east. The visitors used to occupy the dugout that faced the setting sun. But when a three-room clubhouse was built under the first-base stands, the Rainbows opted to change dugouts.

"That's what the home-field advantage is all about," Coolen said.

In the first game, Milca scored two runs, including a leadoff homer in the first, and Courtney Baughman pitched a five-hitter and struck out four.

Baughman was aided by a clerical error.

After singling in the fourth inning, catcher Brittany McConnell, who is the Spartans' best power hitter, was replaced by a courtesy runner, Nicole Wells.

In the bottom of the inning, San Jose State head coach Peter Turner failed to notify the umpires that McConnell was re-entering the game. The omission was detected after UH's Peiler opened with a double. The umpires ruled that McConnell, who had returned as the catcher, had violated the re-entry rules. McConnell was told she would not be eligible to play the rest of the game.

That proved costly in the fifth inning when the Spartans had two runners on with two outs. Anissa Lagos, who had replaced McConnell as the cleanup hitter, popped out to shortstop Valana Manuma to end the inning.

By sweeping the three-game series, the Rainbows have momentum entering the upcoming eight-game road trip. Six games are against nationally-ranked Western Athletic Conference rivals Fresno State and Nevada.

"It'll be a tough eight-game road trip for us to see what we're made of," Coolen said. "We're going into the lion's den."