A late-inning rally allowed UC Santa Barbara to earn a four-game split against Hawaii on Sunday.

Understandably, UCSB coach Andrew Checketts still wasn’t overly thrilled about it.

"I’d sure trade today’s win for one (Saturday)," the second-year Gauchos coach said. "I guess we split, but it sure doesn’t feel that way."

UCSB finished 2-2 on its road trip to the islands after scoring seven runs in the final two innings of a 10-4 win over the Rainbows in front of a Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,124.

However, only the first three games counted toward conference play, leaving UCSB below .500 after the opening weekend.

"We knew what we were in for … and we didn’t take (Hawaii) lightly because we knew they were going to be good," Checketts said. "Sometimes you get punched in the face early in the year and it takes time to recover and it looks they are well on their way to recovering."

Hawaii (7-18, 2-1) secured a winning series in its Big West debut on Saturday and took a 4-3 lead into the eighth inning of Sunday’s game.

Pinch hitter Dalton Kelly tied the score with a two-out triple off reliever Jon Flinn, and Ryan Clark followed with a single off Flinn’s leg to score Kelly for a 5-4 lead.

UCSB (14-12, 1-2) tacked on five more runs in the ninth off three different UH relievers, including lefty Jim MacWilliam, who pitched for the first time all year.

"With the pitching depth we’re looking at right now, it can get ugly quick," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "Now we’re done with the four-game series the rest of the year and there’s no question I am happy about that."

The bigger concern from Sunday’s loss was the performance of starter Scott Squier, who began the year atop UH’s starting rotation.

Since losing a shutout with two outs in the ninth inning against Gonzaga three weeks ago, Squier has given up eight runs in 92⁄3 innings.

He managed only four innings in his second outing against the Gauchos and set a school record with five hit batters in one game.

Brandon Trinkwon took Squier deep for a three-run homer in the third after he had hit the first two batters.

Squier plunked the next guy to tie a record for hit batters in an inning and hit the first two guys to lead off the fourth.

"That’s a couple of outings in a row he’s really struggled, and it’s primarily with his secondary pitches," Trapasso said. "He’s starting to press, he’s overthrowing … and we’ve got to get him relaxed and just pitch because he’s trying to do too much right now."

Senior Connor Little is day-to-day after taking a line drive off his knee on Thursday.

Freshman Quintin Torres-Costa will travel with the team on its two-week road trip beginning Friday at No. 21 UC Irvine, but he’s still a few weeks away from potentially pitching again.

"If he can’t come back within the next four weeks then we really have to consider (redshirting) him," Trapasso said. "We’re taking him on the road with us because it’s a long trip and we want to monitor his throwing, because assuming no setbacks, by the end of the road trip he should be real close to throwing off the mound and we should have a much better idea of what to do with him after that."

Stephen Ventimilia went 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI to finally get his batting average above .200.

Junior outfielder Adam Hurley, who homered on Saturday to end a 1-for-26 skid, had two of UH’s 10 hits.

"Baseball is so mental, and when you go up there thinking, you’re already in the hole," Hurley said. "You’ve got to adjust after a while when things aren’t going well for you, and I’ve made a couple of adjustments."

Junior Conner George singled in the second to extend his hitting streak to nine games, and he made a diving catch in right field in the sixth to take away a hit.

George, who leads the team with a .333 average, has practiced at seven positions for the Rainbows. He spent two years as an infielder before making the full-time switch to outfield last offseason.

"I’ve always felt confidence on defense no matter where it is," George said. "Obviously it takes time to get comfortable at a new position, but I go out there now in the first inning and I’m ready and I feel great out there."

UH plays its next seven games on the road, beginning with a series at UC Irvine, which was swept by UC Riverside to start 0-3 in conference.

Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly and UC Riverside are 3-0 after the first weekend.