University of Hawai'i coach Bob Coolen didn't expect this. Neither did his players.

The Rainbow Wahine entered the Western Athletic Conference tournament as the top-seed and the favorite. Now, the Rainbows find themselves searching for answers.

First, No. 2 Fresno State touched the Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year Kate Robinson for five runs, rolling to a 9-3 victory against the Rainbows in the semifinals of the WAC tournament at Bulldog Diamond.

Then, UH lost in the second game when Nevada's Brittany Puzey hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the No. 4 Wolf Pack a 3-1 victory.

Hawai'i is ranked No. 12 in the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Associating and No. 13 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball polls, but its NCAA Tournament won't be decided until the selections tomorrow.

Darlene Bailey, the WAC's associate commissioner, said if Nevada wins the tournament, the conference might not get three teams into the NCAA tournament. It depends on any upsets in other conference tournaments, she said.

"We just didn't get the job done," UH coach Bob Coolen said.

Robinson (15-1) pitched 2 2/3 innings and gave up five hits. She walked three.

Robinson's day didn't start off well. Haley Perkins led off the bottom of the first inning and was hit. UH committed two errors and scored three times.

"What can you say?" Fresno State coach Margie Wright said. "Our team came out and played so well ... showed a lot of character. They never let up, and that's what you need against Hawai'i,"

The Rainbow Wahine tried to answer in the second inning, but Fresno State right fielder Lisa Marie Coronado made a leaping catch over the right field wall taking away a home run from Tyleen Tausaga.

"We worked on it a few times," Coronado said. "You can't be afraid of the fence. I saw it and went for it. I didn't realize it was over the fence until I caught it."

Said Coolen, "When we hit the ball, we just couldn't hit it deep enough."

In the top of the third inning, UH cut Fresno State's lead 3-2 when Clare Warwick hit a two-run double that scored Traci Yoshikawa and Julie Franklin.

Just when UH had an answer for Fresno State, the Bulldogs (45-6) scored two runs on Shannon Garvin's two-run double. Nichole Willis homered over the left-field fence for the Bulldogs' sixth run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Hawai'i scored an unearned run in the top of the sixth inning. But the Bulldogs scored three times in the bottom of the sixth inning when Willis and Robin Mackin each drove in runs with singles. Coronado drove in the other run on a sacrifice fly.

"They came out and played a better ball game than us," Coolen said. "We dug ourselves in a hole down 3-0, and we came out and scored and then they scored. We couldn't make it happen."