The Hawai'i softball team's regular-season finale yesterday came with a happily-ever-after ending.

Following a 5-0 victory over Utah State to complete a three-game sweep, the five Rainbow Wahine seniors were introduced at home plate. The last to be announced was center fielder Kaulana Gould.

Then Gould's boyfriend, former UH football player Chris Williams, was introduced. Williams took a knee, then proposed marriage to his girlfriend of three years.

"I was totally surprised," Gould said. "When I heard the microphone was on, I thought: 'I think I know what it is.' And I started crying. I nodded my head. I couldn't talk. I was speechless."

Williams, who works for the city as a park director, had met with Gould's mother last week.

"He asked for my permission to marry her," Fawn Gould said. "There were conditions. He had to be a man like her Papa was."

Papa was Gould's grandfather, Gilbert, who died last year.

"He had to trust her, and take care of her," she added. "Christopher is a good man. I know he'll be good as a husband."

Williams said: "Papa is a great man, hard to live up to. I'm going to do my best, treat her like a queen."

Williams then sought UH head coach Bob Coolen's blessing.

"I thought that was really special he came up to me, talked to me, and asked if he could do it," Coolen said. "I said, 'That's neat that you're doing it on the field. This will always be here. This will be something special for you and Lans.' I'm glad she said yes."

Gould said of Williams: "He's a great man. He's perfect for me, and I love him to death. It was definitely a great way to end my senior day. It was the happiest day of my life."

It also was a fond farewell to the regular season. The Rainbows host the double-elimination Western Athletic Conference tournament, which opens Wednesday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

"It was good to come off a weekend like this," third baseman Clare Warwick said.

Last week, the Rainbows returned from a 2-6 road trip during which they were swept in three-game series by WAC rivals Fresno State and Nevada.

On Saturday, the Rainbows won two games against Utah State, the WAC's last-place team, to clinch the No. 3 seed in the WAC tournament. The tournament winner gets a berth in the NCAA Regionals.

Kate Robinson, who pitched a two-hitter in Saturday's second game, was summoned for yesterday's afternoon game.

Robinson gave the Rainbows an early boost. Tanisha Milca opened with an infield single, and advanced to second on Gould's sacrifice. One out later, Robinson blasted her 17th home run of the season, a towering drive over the fence in left-center.

Warwick then followed with her fifth homer of the season.

"I had a bit of a rough day (on Saturday)," Warwick said. "I thought, 'I'm going to relax, and whatever (pitch) comes, I'm going to hit it as hard as I can.' "

The Rainbows extended their lead to 4-0 on Katie Grimes' bases-empty home run in the second inning.

Grimes entered the series with a .217 batting average. What's more, in her last road game, a foul tip jolted her catcher's mask. She lost part of her right eyebrow, and suffered a cut that required 10 stitches. But the tireless Grimes — she caught every inning during the series — went 5 for 8 against Utah State. The surge could be credited to a new compact swing.

The Rainbows closed the scoring in the fifth. Gould opened with a double that rocketed over center fielder Emily Reilly. Gould advanced to third on Brandi Peiler's bloop single to right, then scored on Warwick's sacrifice fly to left.

Robinson, who allowed three hits, induced the first two outs of the seventh. Then Coolen jogged to the mound, motioning for Jessica Morton to enter as a relief pitcher. Robinson moved to first, replacing Audrey Andrade.

The move allowed the five seniors — Morton, Robinson, Peiler, Gould and shortstop Valana Manuma — to be on the field at the same time.

"I struggle with that every year — how am I going to get my seniors all out there?" Coolen said. "It was nice to be able to slide (Morton) in and have all five of them out there."

Morton wasted little time, striking out Amy Schaible on three pitches.

"I was glad to go out there and finish the game," Morton said. "I wanted to get it over with."

That set the way for the UH and Utah State seniors to be honored.

"I was talking to the freshmen (Saturday)," Coolen said of Senior Day. "I said, 'You have no idea what it means to be a Rainbow Wahine and graduate from the program. You've never seen it. You've seen pictures of it, but you don't know how special it is.' This was doubly special. Not only did they see their fellow seniors on the verge of graduation, but also the proposal. Anything can happen."