Feeding off drop pitches that refused to drop, Georgia scored five runs in the seventh inning for a 7-4 softball victory over Hawai'i in the Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament last night.

Earlier yesterday, the 24th-ranked Rainbow Wahine defeated Saint Mary's, 2-1, in eight innings.

The Rainbows finished 2-2 in the round robin, earning the No. 3 seed in today's bracket round.

They face Kent State at noon.

"We thought we had a real good shot of getting into that No. 2 seed," UH coach Bob Coolen said. "It just didn't happen."

Against No. 21 Georgia, the Rainbows took a 4-2 lead on Brandi Peiler's towering two-run homer to center in the fifth inning.

But in the seventh, Kate Robinson relinquished consecutive singles to Sojourner Moody and Kellie Middleton. Coolen then summoned reliever Jessica Morton, who was the winning pitcher against Saint Mary's.

"They were hitting (Robinson) in that part of the lineup as the game went on," Coolen said. "They were making adjustments. It seemed her pitches were hittable. We made that move. We thought Jess would be a live arm and show something different."

Morton's best pitch is a dropball, which is difficult for a hitter to drive. Morton used the pitch to induce Megan McAllister to pop up.

Because of the Bulldogs' quickness, right fielder Tanisha Milca was asked to play shallow against the next batter, right-handed-hitting Melissa Wood. After pulling two pitches foul, Wood hit a double over Milca, scoring Moody and Middleton to tie it at 4.

"I knew she could hit the ball to the right side, but we weren't expecting her, after the two foul balls to the left side, to hit the ball that far," Coolen said.

Christie Hamilton, the relief pitcher who moved from third base in the fifth, followed with a run-scoring double to deep center.

Then Alison Horne slammed a two-run homer over the "200" sign in left-center field.

"The ball was hanging up there," Coolen said. "I asked Jess, 'What were they hitting?' She said 'dropballs.' Those weren't dropballs. They were dropping right over the hitting zone. It's too bad. She's been doing a a great job for us all year."

In the first game, the Rainbows, who were designated as the visitors, tied the score at 1 in the seventh. Kaulana Gould singled, went to second on Tausaga's single and advanced to third on a deep flyout to right. Gould scored on Peiler's sacrifice fly.

To start the eighth, Valana Manuma was placed on second base as part of the international rules on extra-inning games. Manuma went to third on a sacrifice by Morton, who had replaced starting pitcher Justine Smethurst.

The next batter, Alana Power, swung and missed a 1-2 pitch. But catcher Sadie Dolcini dropped the ball. Power then sprinted to first. Dolcini's throw ricocheted off Power's left elbow, allowing Power to reach first safely and Manuma to race home with the tie-breaking run.

"(Power) swung and knew to take right off," Coolen said. "She was in the 3-foot line (of the base path), and the ball hit off her elbow, and that sort of caused everything. That was head's up. We talked about not getting into yourself when you strikeout, but just try to make something happen."

Morton retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth for her fifth victory.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.