The Hawaii baseball team hopes to reverse a troubling trend when it welcomes Saint Mary’s to Murakami Stadium this weekend.

Although it’s only been eight days since the start of Western Athletic Conference play, UH returns to nonconference action during its mandatory bye week in the WAC.

It’s a week that hasn’t been kind to UH recently, including last season, when the Rainbows lost two of three to Valparaiso. Those losses dealt UH’s chances for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament a devastating blow.

"I think we were a little lackadaisical and going through the motions and come to find out, we get our butt whipped," junior outfielder Breland Almadova said. "Every game is just as important as another and coming into this nonconference series, we have to understand that every game matters."

Over the past four seasons, UH is 4-6 during its off week in WAC play.

Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso chose not to play a series in 2010, when UH won 12 of its next 18 games in advancing to an NCAA regional final.

Due to the WAC shortening its series by three games, UH didn’t have that luxury this year.

This is the first time Hawaii has played Saint Mary’s since 1999. The Rainbows scored 20 runs against the Gaels in the final game of that series, a number both teams will be lucky to score in the entire series this weekend.

The Rainbows are currently sixth in the country with a 2.64 ERA, while the Gaels rank 14th at 2.80.

"Looking over their scouting report, they’ve got two starters that pump the ball up there in the mid-90s," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "We could be in for low-scoring games where every run is crucial."

That’s been the norm this season for the Rainbows, who have held opponents to three runs or fewer in 21 of 28 home games.

Senior Matt Sisto will start the 50th game of his UH career tonight, joining Andrew McNally, Brady Perreira, Chuck Crim, Ricky Bauer, Bruce Walton and Scott Karl as the only Rainbows to reach that mark.

UH will go with the same rotation it has used all season long, with sophomore Jarrett Arakawa going Saturday and freshman Scott Squier starting the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader.

Who exactly will catch is a different story.

Trapasso said he expects freshman Cody Clark to get back in the rotation after Billy Nottingham caught all three games against Fresno State last weekend. Senior Garrett Champion is also available.

"We need to get Cody in there, because he’s a kid that has all the tools and it’s more a matter of when, not if, he puts it all together," Trapasso said.

Freshman catcher Trevor Podratz hasn’t been cleared to throw after an MRI revealed a tear in his rotator cuff. He’ll be available to DH.