Can the Hawaii baseball team begin Big West play as effectively as it ended it in 2024?

So far, at least, the Rainbow Warriors recaptured their hot play from the final five weeks of last spring and have produced. UH (10-2) picked up a rousing, 3-2 win over Northeastern on Matthew Miura's hit up the middle in the 12th inning on Monday night, its nation-leading fourth walk-off victory of the season.

The Rainbow Warriors took all three of their pre-conference series, against Marshall, Wichita State and Northeastern, in 12 games at Les Murakami Stadium. Now they begin Big West play on Friday with a reasonable first road test at UC Riverside (8-5), an earlier-than-usual start to conference play with the addition of the first Big West baseball tournament in May.

“It's just game by game, right?” fourth-year UH coach Rich Hill told Spectrum News after Sunday afternoon’s win over Northeastern. “Guys are feeling comfortable with their roles. I mean, we're obviously dealing with some injuries, and guys are stepping up. We have a pretty good feel for what we want to do, pitching wise, but we just want to stay in the rhythm, you know, of the season, not it's not really a conference game or a non conference game.”

As of Tuesday, UH ranked No. 67 in the country in batting average (.301), No. 34 in stolen bases (27). Its pitching has been even more effective at No. 39 in earned-run average (3.35) and No. 12 in WHIP (1.09).

The Rainbows remain without their best overall hitter, shortstop Jordan Donahue, who hurt his hand in the season opener against Marshall. But a number of players have stepped forward, including sophomore Elijah Ickes, who ably slid from third to short.

UH ended last season winning 16 of its last 18 Big West games to finish 37-16 overall and 20-10 in the BWC. It still wasn't enough to end UH's postseason drought that began in 2011.

Its 26-3 record since last April 21 is the best record in the country. Hawaii heads into conference play with a Big West-leading RPI of 18 among 307 Division I programs through Tuesday’s games.

Fireballer Liam O’Brien (2-0) has yet to give up an earned run in 17 1/3 innings pitched, including in two starts. Sebastian Gonzalez has remained UH’s series-opening starter and has posted a 5.73 ERA with three no-decisions.

Cal Poly transfer Freddy Rodriguez, who is tied for the team high in appearances with six, has a 1.29 ERA. He and Isaiah Magdaleno (1.00 ERA, 11 strikeouts, no walks) have been UH’s top options out of the bullpen.

“I’m stoked. I think especially with all the walk-offs we've had so early, we've shown a lot of heart,” senior outfielder Jared Quandt said during the Northeastern series, which ended with a scuffle following the emotional walk-off Monday. “And the Big West is a gauntlet, and I think it takes a lot of heart to get through that clean, and that's what we got to do this year. And we got a tournament this year, which I'm excited for."

“I'm really proud of our guys — our (pitching) staff looks good, our hitters look good, our defense is rock solid, like always, and I'm excited we're firing on all cylinders," Quandt said.

Four different starters are responsible for the walk-off heroics so far: Draven Nushida, Shunsuke Sakaino, Ickes and Miura.

Nushida is batting .424 while Quandt is hitting .410, Sakaino .390 and Kamana Nahaku .381, with four others in the neighborhood of .300. Ben Zeigler-Namoa has 12 walks. Konnor Palmeira has so far emerged as the team’s regular catcher, though Hunter Faildo and David Vergel de Dios have had opportunities behind the plate.

“Our bats are really hot right now,” said the Gonzaga transfer O’Brien. “We have really good guys in the lineup that I'm very confident in.”

UC Santa Barbara (9-2) is ranked No. 16 in the D-1 Baseball.com Top 25 and is 72nd in RPI.

Among the other Big West teams in RPI, UC Irvine is 84th, Cal Poly is 99th, UC San Diego is 101st, CSUN is 110th, UC Davis is 164th, UC Riverside is 166th, Cal State Fullerton is 173rd, Long Beach State is 222nd and Cal State Bakersfield is 234th.

Riverside hosts Michigan on Wednesday. First pitch for UH and UCR at the Riverside Sports Complex is scheduled for 4 p.m. Hawaii time Friday.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.