The famous baseball adage, "Good pitching beats good hitting," will be put to the test this weekend at Les Murakami Stadium.

The most prolific offense in the Western Athletic Conference will face the league’s top pitching staff when New Mexico State and Hawaii square off for three games.

The second half of conference play begins for both teams when the WAC-leading Aggies make their final visit to the islands to face Hawaii, which recently completed its longest road trip of the season.

The Rainbows returned from a 4-3 trip to California and Louisiana on Sunday. They took two days off to recover from an exhausting two weeks in which they won four of the first five games before dropping the final two to Louisiana Tech, falling into a tie for fourth place in the WAC.

"Overall it was a good trip that we started well," sophomore left-hander Jarrett Arakawa said. "It was kind of a bitter taste coming back after the end, but if we switched those two series around I think it would have felt different."

Arakawa is the No. 2 starter on a pitching staff that leads the WAC in ERA (2.95), batting average against (.251) and walks allowed (99).

Conversely, the Aggies don’t only lead the WAC, but the entire country in runs (391) and walks (276) and are also top 10 in on-base percentage (.433), doubles (102) and slugging (.467).

Last season, UH outscored the Aggies 51-39 in a four-game split in Las Cruces.

Senior Matt Sisto (7-3, 2.96 ERA) has faced the Aggies three times in his career. In two games at their park, he’s given up 14 runs in 62⁄3 innings. At home, he didn’t allow an earned run in 52⁄3 innings, giving up just two hits and striking out six as a sophomore.

"It’s way better playing here against anyone, but especially against New Mexico State because you don’t have to worry about their field," Sisto said. "They swing to their field, so it’s definitely an advantage as pitchers here are able to go after the hitters and have the comfort of a big yard behind them."

The Aggies have put up big numbers every year, but have legitimized them this season against a tougher schedule than usual.

NMSU has played 23 games against the RPI top 100 and 10 against the RPI top 50. The Aggies won both games against No. 16 Arizona and took three of four to start the year against Wake Forest.

"It’s a legit schedule they’ve played this year and they’ve done well against good teams and done well on the road," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "There’s a reason they have an RPI (No. 21) in the top 25."