For one glorious afternoon, the Hawai'i softball team was gritty in pink.

Wearing specially tailored pink uniforms to bring awareness to breast cancer, the Rainbow Wahine swept Boise State, 9-1 and 8-3, yesterday.

It was the final home games for eight UH seniors. The Rainbows closed the regular season with records of 28-22 and 15-6 in the Western Athletic Conference. As the third seed, they open against No. 4 Louisiana Tech Wednesday in the WAC Tournament in Fresno, Calif.

"It doesn't matter," UH coach Bob Coolen said of the seeding. "We're going to have to face everyone at some point in time, anyway, if we want to win the tournament."

The tournament winner earns the WAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Regionals.

For Coolen, a more pressing matter was finding a way for the eight seniors to be on the field at the same time for the final inning.

"That was something I thought about all week," Coolen said. "I wanted to get the seniors in their respective positions without tweaking too much."

Catcher Stacey Yamada, third baseman Clare Warwick, left fielder Audrey Andrade and right fielder Tanisha Milca already were starters. Coolen decided to flip-flop starting pitchers, with ace Stephanie Ricketts pitching the first game of the doubleheader and Courtney Baughman pitching the second. Ricketts, who pitched a no-hitter Friday, threw a two-hitter in the first game, which was mercy-shortened to five innings.

Because second baseman Dara Pagaduan has "been swinging such a hot bat," Coolen said, she was used as the designated player in the second game, enabling senior Richie-Anne Titcomb to start at second. Coolen also decided to use Julie Franklin at short instead of Traci Yoshikawa.

That left one dilemma: outfielder Malamaisaua Manuma, who will undergo a second surgery to repair a torn left labrum. Manuma, who will graduate in December, will relinquish her fifth year.

"Malama was the most difficult to put in," said Coolen, who wanted to start junior Kanani Pu'u-Warren in center.

It all worked out. Pu'u-Warren started, and blasted a two-run homer that struck the scoreboard beyond the fence in right field.

"I hope I didn't break it," Pu'u-Warren said.

After being struck by a pitch in UH's six-run third, Pu'u-Warren was replaced by Manuma.

Spurred by the 8-0 headstart and the emotions of Senior Day, Baughman was at her best. Relying on a sinking curveball, she induced 13 popouts and flyouts. She survived a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, allowing only a run.

When Coolen suggested a pitching change, "she looked at me perplexed. She didn't want to come out at all. I left her in."

In the seventh, the Broncos closed to 8-3, then placed two runners on with two outs.

"I looked around and realized, 'this is it,' " Yamada said. "All of the seniors are out on the field together, and we were going to leave together."

Baughman then got Christin Capobianco to fly out to Manuma in center.

"It was emotional to know we're not going to play here anymore," Milca said. "It's not over. We're getting ready for the tournament."