Hawai'i is as ready as it can be for its Friday Western Athletic Conference season opener in a three-game series against Nevada.

The Rainbows (19-8), who have the best overall winning percentage at .704 among the seven conference members, were picked to win the WAC along with defending regular-season and tournament champion Fresno State in a preseason poll of coaches.

Hawai'i has won 6 of 8 non-conference series; its series losses were to nationally ranked teams. No. 11 Wichita State swept a three-game series and No. 23 Arizona took 2 of 3. The Rainbows didn't play well against the Shockers, who were loaded with returnees. But they played about as tough as possible against a Wildcats team they actually out-scored thanks to a 1.00 earned run average for the series.

"But I was pleased with how we played (overall)," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "If we play that way the rest of the year, we'll score plenty of runs and win way more often than we lose. The last couple weeks, we've played pretty well, so we just have to continue that."

PITCHING

Success starts on the mound for UH, which sports a team earned run average of 2.61.

Senior left-handers Ian Harrington (4-4, 3.04) and Mark Rodrigues (6-1, 2.78), and JC transfer right-hander Joshua Schneider (2-1, 2.28) have established themselves in the rotation. All are reliable and durable. Each starter's outings have averaged close to six innings. When your third starter's ERA is 2.28, it's hard not to do well in a series.

What's helped is a solid bullpen. Matt Daly and Tyler Davis established themselves last year as go-to guys and haven't disappointed this season. But Jayson Kramer has shown he can be counted on in tight spots.

Right-hander Craig Johnson and left-handers Nick Rhodes and Jeff Soskin have had limited appearances, but have nonetheless still pitched well when given the chance. Soskin will be a situational reliever, who will sometimes be asked to just get out a tough left-handed hitter.

"I think that we went into the season without a lot of depth, pitching-wise, and we still really have thrown only five, six guys for the most part," Trapasso said. "So it was good to see a Jayson Kramer come along the last couple of weeks; Craig Johnson has thrown well in a limited role. Before it's all said and done, we're going to try to involve some more arms. But now that we're in conference, it really focuses on winning."

Since he arrived here in 2002, Trapasso has preached control. The Rainbows walk just under two batters per nine innings.

OK, so Daly (17 walks in 32 2/3 innings) is different, but his .188 batting average allowed neutralizes his wildness as evident by his 2.48 ERA. (The team batting average allowed is .258.)

OFFENSE

Despite not having anyone establish himself as a true lead-off batter, the Rainbows are still ahead of last year's pace in terms of runs (6.92 now to 6.23 last year) and on-base percentage (..395 last year to .410 now).

The team's best on-base men happen to hit in the middle of the lineup. No. 3 hitter Justin Frash leads with a .496 on-base average, followed by No. 5 hitter Kris Sanchez (.464) and cleanup batter Brandon Haislet (.457).

Second baseman Jon Hee has taken the lead-off role of late with his .338 batting average and .378 on-base percentage.

The infield is set with Frash at third, Eli Christensen at short, Hee at second and Sanchez at first. They all are backed by dependable players in Nate Young (short and second), Vinnie Catricala (third and first) and the very flexible Kevin Macdonald (third, second, first, outfield and emergency catcher).

Derek DuPree has settled in left and Haislet in center. Right field has evolved into a platoon of the left-handed hitting Evan Zimny and right-handed hitting Jorge Franco. There is flexibility on the bench with the left-handed hitting Matt Roquemore and the switch-hitting Ryan Asato, both corner-type outfielders.

Kevin Fujii will backup Landon Hernandez at catcher. The left-handed hitting Bryan Ruff could be the odd man out when UH has to set its 25-man active roster for the WAC games because of Macdonald's ability to catch.

"Our kids know when we play well, we're a pretty good baseball team," Trapasso said. "I'm happy with where our guys are. You have your ebbs and flows in the course of the lineup throughout the year."

BOTTOM LINE

The WAC has wasted little time displaying its volatility. At 8-14, Sacramento State has the worst overall winning percentage, yet already is 4-2 in WAC play, winning series at contender Louisiana Tech and at New Mexico State.

"Most people picked (Sacramento State) to finish at the bottom so that tells you right there how competitive this league is going to be before it's finished," Trapasso said.

Hawai'i has yet to win a WAC season-opening series in Trapasso's tenure. Last year, the Rainbows started WAC play 3-5 before winning 14 of their last 15 to finish a half-game behind Fresno State in the standings. (A canceled game at Nevada was not made up by UH, which played 23 games.) Also, UH was 21-7 away from Les Murakami Stadium last year.

"It's all about the end result," Trapasso said. "For me to say, 'Yes, it's important to start off strong' and then we don't, are we just going to throw in the towel? If your goal is to win the WAC, you have to win at home and on the road, so it just doesn't matter. You just have to play well every series, against everyone, wherever you are."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.