Kate Robinson shook off a rocky start to post her third win of the season — all on shutouts — as No. 25 Hawai'i edged Kent State, 1-0, to take third place in the Pepsi Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament at Rainbow Wahine Stadium yesterday.

Robinson allowed four hits, walked three and struck out five for the complete-game victory that boosted the Rainbow Wahine to 16-5.

Robinson got in early trouble, giving up a double to Brittney Robinson, a walk to Jessica Toocheck, and a single to Corey Houk to start the game.

"My adrenaline started going when they loaded the bases with no outs," Kate Robinson said. "It's not the way I wanted to start the game.

"I like (the pressure)," Robinson added. "It gets me into the game."

Gaining her composure, Robinson got Jamie Fitzpatrick and Megan Verde to pop out, then struck out designated hitter Amy Hair to escape the inning unscathed.

Kent State threatened again in the third with two outs and runners on second and third, but Robinson got Verde to ground out to keep the game scoreless.

"(Robinson) just got stronger as the game went on," said UH head coach Bob Coolen.

The Wahine got all the offense they would need in the fourth inning. With one out and Claire Warwick on second, Tyleen Tausaga smacked a line drive to right to drive Warwick home.

It was UH's third victory over the Golden Flashes (7-7) in four days. On Thursday, junior Brandi Peiler hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to lead UH to a 4-2 win. On Saturday, with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, freshman Kanani Warren dropped a two-run double to left-center to give UH a 2-0 win.

"It's tough to play them three times in a row when you know that one run is going to win the ball game either way, because that was the tone that was set and that's exactly what happened," Coolen said.

While happy with the victory, Coolen said he's still disappointed that his team couldn't beat No. 21 Georgia or No. 22 Oregon in the tournament.

"We're competitive but we still need to beat these ranked opponents when we play them," Coolen said. "We can't lose by blowout (scores). Playing these teams will help our RPI, but it'll hurt us if we can't win these games."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.