Final exams are this week for the University of Hawai'i baseball players. But Matt Daly passed a big test on the field last Friday.

The sophomore right-hander's one-hitter in an 8-0 win against UH-Hilo earned him his first Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week honor yesterday.

Daly's best start of the season came at a time when the Rainbows were looking for some stability from the starting rotation. They got three quality starts against the Vulcans. Ian Harrington threw eight innings of one-hit ball in the series opener and Mark Rodrigues went seven strong innings to complete the series sweep Saturday. It was the first time since the Arizona series two months ago that all three UH starters went at least seven innings.

Daly (5-1) made his fifth start of the season, but the first in a three-game series this season. He replaced Joshua Schneider, who had struggled in his previous four starts after a 6-0 complete-game win against San Jose State. Daly used only 105 pitches, a low number considering he had a season-high nine strikeouts. He retired 25 consecutive batters during one stretch after walking the first batter he faced. He lost the no-hitter with one out in the ninth.

The key for Daly was throwing his slider for strikes, UH coach Mike Trapasso said. Daly said he's always had the slider, but hadn't used it as much during his relief stints.

"I was able to throw it more consistently for strikes during the game because normally I pitch in a relief role," Daly said. "Normally, I'm coming in throwing a few innings ... I was able to develop my pitches better, locating them and everything like that. (The slider) got better as the game went along and (I was) able to throw it for strikes."

In his previous starts, Daly ran up high pitch counts. He had three starts in which he went five innings. In starts against Santa Clara Jan. 28 and Wisconsin-Milwaukee March 18, he used 84 pitches in each.

"It was early in the season," he said. "I just wasn't throwing as many strikes as I should."

Daly, who uses a slider to complement a 95-mph fastball, was highly touted out of Esperanza High in Anaheim, Calif. He's always wanted to be a starting pitcher, but he has had to put his personal desires aside. He was needed out of the bullpen and never complained about his situation.

"I've been a starter my whole life," said the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Daly. "I've always dreamed of coming to a college or playing professional baseball as a starter. It's exciting to me (to start). I love doing any role. Either way I'm happy. Being that I have the opportunity (to start) makes me more excited."

The Rainbows (31-19 overall, 9-9 WAC) will stay with the same rotation in Harrington, Daly and Rodrigues for this weekend's WAC series at Nevada. The series runs Saturday through Monday because of final exams. Hawai'i leaves on Friday.

"I'm happy for him," Trapasso said of Daly's WAC award. "But we now have to focus on him throwing that well in Reno this Sunday."

The Rainbows are among three of the seven teams that still haven't clinched a WAC tournament berth. They need a win or New Mexico State loss to clinch.

Meanwhile, first-place Fresno State (14-4) is on the verge of clinching the regular-season title and top seed for the tournament. Fresno State opens a crucial series with second-place Louisiana Tech (13-8), which is 2 1/2 games behind.

Trapasso left for California yesterday to do some recruiting and will meet the team in Reno on Friday. Because of finals, not all players will be attending every practice.

"But by this time of year, practice is just to stay sharp," Trapasso said. "It's really just go out, take BP (batting practice), field some ground balls. That's about it."

They have a 2-hour window for workouts tomorrow and Thursday at Les Murakami Stadium because of the state high school tournament.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.