The official story was that Kate Robinson pitched a four-hitter and singled home the winning run in Hawai'i's 1-0 softball victory over New Mexico State last night at Rainbow Wahine Stadium.

The backstory was that Robinson, exercising her senior privileges, was not supposed to have swung at what turned out to be the game's final pitch.

"I gave her the 'take' sign," UH coach Bob Coolen said.

Robinson, with a sheepish grin, said: "I'm glad it worked out."

Indeed, the outcome helped the Rainbow Wahine win two of three games in their opening Western Athletic Conference series. They depart today for a three-game series against Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La.

The Rainbows had squandered several opportunities entering the bottom of the seventh inning.

Tanisha Milca led off with a line drive that ricocheted off pitcher Kim Watson's upper thigh.

"It was payback," said Milca, who still was limping after being struck by a Watson pitch in the third inning. "I knew, as a leadoff hitter, I had to get on base. When she left (the pitch) over the plate, I took it right where she left it. I knew when I got on we were going to score and win the game."

Center fielder Kaulana Gould then placed a bunt. Third baseman Ashley Maroda fielded the ball and threw to shortstop Kylie Randall at second. But Herrera was at least a foot off the base, and Milca, who did not slide, was called safe at second.

"I could see her foot was off the bag," Milca said. "Coach (Coolen) was looking at me, like, 'Why didn't you slide?' But her foot was off, and I was safe when I got there."

Melissa Gonzalez then put down the Rainbows' fifth bunt of the game. Maroda again fielded the ball, but her throw was too late to get Gonzalez, filling the bases with no outs.

"The bunt was working so well, we had to use it," said Gonzalez, a freshman second baseman. "I was trying to move them over. The fact that I got on was a plus."

That brought up Robinson, the Rainbows' best hitter.

Watson's first three pitches were balls.

That's when Coolen signaled the "take" sign to Robinson.

"I wanted the pitcher to at least try to throw a couple of strikes in a row, to go to 3-and-2, just to make her think," Coolen said.

But Robinson figured the odds were not in favor of drawing a walk-off walk.

"I knew I wasn't pressing," Robinson said. "The pitcher was pressing. She had to beat the next three batters to get out of the inning. The bases were loaded with no outs. Of course she was going to come down with a strike. I waited for one, and hit it as hard as I could. It was a low-middle pitch."

The right-handed Watson tried to make a back-handed stop. But the ball caromed off her glove, cutting to the side of Randall, who had no chance to throw out Milca.

"If I messed up, (Coolen) would have been mad at me," Robinson said. "But I knew the pitcher wasn't going to throw me a ball in that situation."

Coolen said it was fortunate the ball deflected off of Watson. If not, Randall, who was playing in, would have been able to field it cleanly.

"(Robinson) wanted to be aggressive," Coolen said. "She believed in herself. That's good. I want our players to believe in themselves."

The past two years, the Rainbows relied on power hitting and big innings. But after stranding 12 runners, including six in scoring position, Coolen is considering a change in strategy.

"We probably had more bunts in this game than we did in a game in the last two years," Coolen said. "We talked about it before the game. I was like, 'We're not bunting well.' Tonight, we put it together. We moved runners over. They're feeling good about the short game. We're not getting it done with the long ball."