Two areas that have generally been strengths for the Hawaii baseball team were liabilities last weekend.

Pitching and defense were suspect against Cal Poly, contributing to three disappointing losses.

Eight errors and an average of 7.3 runs allowed against the Mustangs dealt Hawaii a huge blow as it tried to prove it can contend with the elite teams in the conference.

Back for a six-game homestand, Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso is focused on getting better in those two areas in an effort to duplicate the three-game sweep of UC Davis the Rainbows pulled off two weeks ago.

"Northridge has shown this season they’re a tough opponent pitching-wise and their numbers are Playstation-like numbers they are so good," Trapasso said. "We need to pitch and play good defense and in the past, I’ve always looked forward to that because that’s been our strength but defensively, we need to play better than what we have."

If UH can do that, it should fare well with an offense that has come alive in the past two weeks.

Prior to the series against the Aggies, Hawaii was hitting .240 with junior Alex Sawelson leading the team at .277.

Seven games later, UH is hitting .259 with Sawelson (.309) and first baseman Eric Ramirez (.308) batting over .300.

All six regulars who have started at least 29 games this season are hitting .269 or better now, including catcher Chayce Ka‘aua, who has been on fire. The freshman is batting .550 (11-for-20) with three doubles and eight runs scored over a six-game hitting streak.

"You would think the success our kids have had swinging the bat the last two weeks will allow them to gain confidence," Trapasso said. "I can tell you that the pitchers we’re going to face with Northridge are putting up much better numbers than what we’ve seen the last two weeks but hopefully the confidence we’ve gotten will help the kids."

CSUN entered the Big West season with a conference-leading 19-6 overall record but has dropped seven of its nine league games.

The Matadors have scored four runs or fewer in all nine Big West games.

Starting pitchers Rayne Raven (4-3, 2.25 ERA) and Calvin Cooping (4-3, 3.33) rank second and third in the conference, averaging 9.87 and 9.82 strikeouts per nine innings.

RAINBOW WARRIOR BASEBALL
At Les Murakami Stadium

>> Who: Hawaii (12-23, 3-6 Big West) vs. CSUN (22-13, 2-7)

>> When: 6:35 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1:05 p.m. Sunday

>> TV: OC Sports Friday and Saturday

>> Radio: KKEA

Probable starters

UH: RH L.J. Brewster (4-3, 2.64 ERA); RH Tyler Brashears (4-4, 2.35); LH Jarrett Arakawa (2-1, 3.24).

CSUN: RH Calvin Copping (4-3, 3.33); LH Jerry Keel (4-3, 1.84); RH Rayne Raven (4-3, 2.25)