LOS ANGELES — All game long the University of Hawai'i softball team kept waiting for one big hit to put them over the top.

Better late than never.

Tanisha Milca hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning that gave the Rainbow Wahine a 2-0 victory over UC-Santa Barbara in their first game at an NCAA Regional in Los Angeles.

UH (47-11) advances to play UCLA today at noon, Hawai'i time, in the four-team, double-elimination tournament. The game will be televised on ESPNU and heard on the radio on AM 1420.

Milca's blast was only the Rainbow Wahine's third hit of the day. She was mobbed in celebration at home plate by all of her teammates.

"When it went out, I was just super excited for our team because we really did work hard to get here and it was a good win for us," Milca said. "My teammates just huddled over me and it was a great feeling."

The Rainbow Wahine almost didn't have the opportunity for Milca to win the game for them. Early on, it was UCSB that had plenty of opportunities to score. The Gauchos got their leadoff batter on base in each of the first four innings, and advanced the runner into scoring position in all of them.

But it was when UCSB had runners on that UH pitcher Justine Smethurst was at her best. She got out of every jam, with Gaucho hitters went 0 for 17 with 10 of her 12 strikeouts with runners on base.

"I think the first four innings with the leadoff runner on base is definitely one of the worst things you want to do as a pitcher because the chances of having the first runner on base and getting a run are extremely high," Smethurst said. "After that happened so many times and me having to work harder through those innings (it) really got me into the game and made me concentrate a bit more."

If the Rainbow Wahine beat UCLA, they advance to the regional final tomorrow.

If the Rainbow Wahine lose to UCLA, they will play the winner of UCSB and Loyola Marymount University at 5 p.m. today in an elimination game.

Despite being ranked No. 12 and No. 16 nationally in the two major polls, the Rainbow Wahine are only the No. 2 seed at the Los Angeles regional, a group that also features a UCLA team that is seeded No. 12 nationally. UCLA beat Loyola Marymount 6-3 in the other game yesterday.