Travel in the Big West is much simpler than the Western Athletic Conference.

The competition, however, not so much.

Hawaii’s first road trip in its new conference begins today with the first of seven games over the next 10 days.

All seven are against teams ranked in the top 30 in one major poll, beginning with UC Irvine (17-8, 0-3) at 3:30 p.m. at Anteater Ballpark.

The Anteaters were the biggest disappointment during the opening week of conference play, losing all three games to UC Riverside.

UCI is still ranked No. 27 by the NCBWA and, with an RPI of 48, is still in the middle of the hunt for a regional berth.

“They’ve got great pitching, they’re hitting almost .300 as a team, they (nearly) lead the nation in defense, so to me, it’s almost not fair,” Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said over the phone Thursday.

“You’d think they should struggle in at least one phase but they seem to have it all.”

Despite owning the worst overall record in the league, Hawaii (7-18, 2-1) enters the series as the hotter team, winning six of its last nine.

The Rainbows opened conference play winning two of three against UC Santa Barbara and have found their stride offensively, hitting .293 over the past two series.

Junior Conner George has raised his average more than 100 points on his current nine-game hitting streak, batting .424 (14-for-33) with 10 RBIs.

George has combined with sophomore Kaeo Aliviado and junior Marc Flores to form a potent middle of the order.

UH has scored 31 runs in the six consecutive games the trio has hit 3-4-5 in the lineup.

Aliviado is hitting .400 (10-for-25) batting third in the lineup while Flores is hitting .375 (18-for-48) with eight doubles, a homer and 11 runs scored in his last 13 games.

The key now is keeping that level of success away from home.

“We need to be locked in,” George said after Sunday’s game against UCSB. “We play three very good teams in environments that we’re not used to and hopefully continue to do the things we’ve been doing.”

After taking a line drive off his knee in a no-decision against UC Santa Barbara last Thursday, senior Connor Little (1-3, 4.43 ERA) is expected to start tonight’s opener.

Little failed to pitch into the seventh inning for the first time all year against the Gauchos and walked a season-high three batters.

Trapasso, who left Oahu on Monday to recruit in Arizona and California this week, met with the team Thursday night.

“He threw his bullpen and it felt OK,” Trapasso said. “He’s limp free and for the most part, he’s pain free, but if we have to, we will bump him to Sunday and move the other two guys up a day.”

Hawaii will keep its same rotation, with Corey MacDonald and Matt Cooper also getting starts.

MacDonald threw his second complete game of the year in a win last weekend and Cooper still leads the team with a 2.13 ERA.

UH and UCI both entered the week ranked in the top four in the country defensively. The Anteaters are also in the top 40 in the country in both hitting and pitching.

First baseman Connor Spencer is 24th in the nation with a .416 batting average, with eight doubles, two triples and 15 RBIs.

UCI will start three juniors who all have an ERA of 3.10 or better.

Right-hander Andrew Morales, who will start the finale on Sunday, has won all six of his starts and posted a 2.15 ERA.

After the series with UC Irvine, UH will play a midweek game next Tuesday against No. 10 UCLA before a three-game set at No. 21 Cal Poly to end the road trip.

“If there’s a tougher one, I’d like to see it,” Trapasso said about the trip. “That’s why we play the schedule we do, because our guys are used to playing great teams.”

UH either has played or will play five teams ranked among the 21 in the latest Baseball America poll.

Eighteen of the 25 games Hawaii has played this year were against a team ranked at least once in a major poll this season.