It didn’t take long for the Hawaii baseball team to establish a legitimate starting rotation.

When the Big West season rolls around and series are cut down to three games, UH has put together a starting staff that has successfully adjusted to new roles very quickly.

A year ago, Brendan Hornung was starting in junior college, Kyle Von Ruden was spot-starting for the Rainbow Warriors and Alex Hatch was wondering if he’d ever get to pitch in a meaningful game.

Now, Hornung has filled in nicely as UH’s ace of the staff while Von Ruden has become an innings-eater and Hatch is suddenly a bonafide No. 3 with legit strikeout capability.

The trio has combined to throw six consecutive quality starts of at least six innings and three earned runs allowed or fewer.

“We knew going in the they had the chance to be high pitch-ability guys because that’s what they were all fall,” Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “It wasn’t going to happen overnight, but we’ve had the confidence in those guys that when they got their pitch count up and got into a groove every week we’d see the pitch-ability come through.”

Hawaii (6-7) is 5-3 in the past eight games they’ve started heading into tonight’s series opener against No. 19 Michigan.

Hornung, who shut out West Virginia over seven innings in his last start, has stepped in for Tyler Brashears, who decided to sign with Tampa Bay on the final day before the July deadline for drafted players.

Hornung was on a recruiting trip to Nebraska and was on the verge of going elsewhere when Trapasso upped his scholarship offer to the 6-foot-3 right-hander.

“He was a late-bloomer and a lot of schools got on him and (his recruitment) dragged very late into the summer,” Trapasso said. “I actually thought we may not get him because he’d taken a lot of visits and in fact, what helped us in a strange way, when Brashears surprised us and signed, it freed up a little more money and I called (Hornung) and had more money for his scholarship.”

Only one pitcher has managed to slow down UH shortstop Jacob Sheldon-Collins, who has a 12-game hitting streak and leads the team with a .404 batting average. Fortunately, that pitcher is on the same team.

“In the fall I couldn’t touch (Hornung’s) changeup,” Sheldon-Collins said. “Every single time, even if I knew it was coming, I’d swing right through it.”

Hornung leads the team with 19 strikeouts in 251⁄3 innings while Hatch has 17 in 18 innings.

Von Ruden is more of a pitch-to-contact guy, but has fit in nicely right behind Hornung in the rotation.

He has thrown at least eight innings in back-to-back starts and only failed to go at least six innings in his first start.

Last year, in seven starts, he only made it through the sixth inning once.

“My job is to pitch to contact and it’s working,” Von Ruden said. “I have to admit, Brendan has been doing a really good job opening up series and getting guys off balance and giving the rest of us a good idea of what to throw to each guy.”

Von Ruden was slowed by back spams in January and hadn’t thrown more than 50 pitches before opening the season against Hawaii Hilo.

Hatch was the same way with a hamstring injury that kept flaring up before the season. He was fourth in the rotation for the New Mexico series because he wasn’t ready and, like Von Ruden, hadn’t thrown more than 50 pitches in scrimmages.

Just two weeks later, they dominated the Mountaineers. The three combined to give up four earned runs on 18 hits in 212⁄3 innings with one walk and 18 strikeouts.

“They were tremendous,” Trapasso said. “It always starts on the mound.”

Another two weeks building their pitch counts up, and it might end on the mound as well.