Once again, the freshmen finished off a series for Hawai'i.

Despite a shaky first inning, freshman Connor Little went a long way and freshman Kolten Wong hit one a long way to help the Rainbows hold off No. 18 Coastal Carolina, 4-3, yesterday and take the series 3-1.

"We're all on a high now," said Wong, who bashed his team-leading fifth home run in a three-run first. "We're just happy and ready to go. Ready to play San Jose State."

The Rainbows (16-9) begin the Western Athletic Conference season here Friday against the Spartans.

Yesterday's game was a thriller to the last out for the 1,722 — the largest day time crowd this season — at Les Murakami Stadium.

Sophomore right-hander Josh Slaats pitched the final 2 1/3 innings in relief of Little. He served up a lead-off home run to Tyler Bortnick to start the top of the ninth that pulled the Chanticleers (19-7) to 4-3 and let the tying run reach when David Anderson singled and pinch runner Steve Davis took second on a sacrifice. But Slaats struck out the next two batters on seven pitches for his third save.

Little's second career start got off to a shaky beginning. Scott Woodward led off the game with a soft line single to left, only to get thrown out stealing second.

But Rico Noel lined a single to left, stole second and third and scored on Bortnick's hard ground single to left. That prompted a visit from UH coach Mike Trapasso, who made quick point to his freshman pitcher.

"He said, 'If you keep throwing the ball up (in the zone), you won't be here long," Little said. "I definitely took that, used it to my advantage. Got me a little pumped up, got me to settle down."

Only four of the next 13 batters reached base after the meeting. One was erased by a double play, but another was a solo homer by Anderson in the fourth that pulled Coastal Carolina to 3-2. Little got two outs in the seventh before giving up a single to Tommy Winegardner on a 10-pitch at-bat. That's when Trapasso called for Slaats.

"I went out there and I wasn't real nice to him," Trapasso said with a laugh about his first-inning mound visit with Little. "He made the adjustment. One thing you always know with Connor is he's not scared and not tentative and he's going to give it his best effort. He started making good pitches. For him to go into the seventh inning, is pretty outstanding."

Little said he was overthrowing in the first inning when he should have been relying on his defense. In the second inning, when Winegardner reached on a flare single to left-center, third baseman Vinnie Catricala made a diving stop of a grounder by Jose Iglecias and turned a double play.

"It showed me how good our defense is," Little said. "It settled me down, got me in a rhythm."

Trailing 1-0, the Rainbows jumped on Chanticleers' starter Austin Fleet in the bottom of the first. Greg Garcia walked on four pitches, took second when Matt Roquemore bounced out to Fleet, advanced to third when Catricala grounded out to short and scored on Kevin Macdonald's ground double down the left-field line. Wong then drilled a first-pitch fastball to right-center to make it 3-1.

"At the moment, I was just trying to clutch up and get a basehit for the team," Wong said.

After Anderson's homer pulled Coastal Carolina to 3-2, UH got the run back in the sixth. With two outs and Wong on first after reaching on a fielder's choice force at second, Landon Hernandez's single to right moved Wong to third. Jeffrey Van Doornum grounded a 1-2 pitch up the middle to score Wong and make it 4-2.

Fleet (3-2) allowed four runs, six hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings.

It was an amazing weekend for the Rainbows. They opened the series by getting no-hit by Cody Wheeler, who topped out at 92 mph from the start to the end and finished off batters with a slider and two different changeups, one scout said.

"After going down the first game with the no-hitter, it was kind of tough," Van Doornum said. "But we believed in ourselves; came together as a team."

The Chanticleers, favorites to win the Big South Conference, did not have closer Nick McCully available in Friday's crucial first game of the doubleheader because of an illness. Also, outfielder Chance Gilmore missed the doubleheader and only pinch hit yesterday after pulling a hamstring on Thursday. He was Coastal Carolina's leading hitter at .390.

Still, Trapasso felt Coastal Carolina was the best team UH faced this season. Hawai'i lost 3 of 4 to then-No. 9 UC Irvine to start the season.

"You (have to) look at the talent and fundamentals and the way they played the game," Trapasso said of the Chanticleers.

"I can't say enough about our kids and the character that they showed this weekend after getting no-hit in the first game. They shake that off and come back and win the series. That's an outstanding accomplishment for our guys. We can't dwell on it. (We have to) start worrying about San Jose (State), whose off to a great start as well."

Hawai'i has won its last three four-game series, taking 3 of 4 from then-No. 26 (Collegiate Baseball's top 30) Mississippi State, sweeping four from Loyola Marymount and winning 3 of 4 from Coastal Carolina. Hawai'i also won Portland's Rose City Invitational with a 3-1 record.

The Rainbows are winning despite the recent struggles of Jared Alexander, the preseason WAC Pitcher of the Year, and with Nate Klein missing his last two starts while resting a tender forearm. The freshmen starters and relievers have filled in admirably.

"I think less of them being freshmen and have faith in them getting the job done," Trapasso sid. "When we're not in the middle of a game, it's feels pretty good to have freshmen doing that. You can lay a foundation for a pretty good staff. But that's in the future and we're focused on staying in the moment. Right now, I have confidence in them to come in and get the job done in tough situations."

San Jose State (18-5), which opens a four-game series here on Friday, was picked to finish second in the WAC in a preseason poll of the league's coaches. The Rainbows were picked third.

Defending WAC and College World Series champ Fresno State (12-10) was picked to repeat.