As the weeks rolled by and his name wasn’t called, doubt began to creep into the mind of Corey MacDonald.

"The thought of leaving was always in the back of my head," MacDonald said on Wednesday. "All sorts of thoughts were going through my head — all sorts of doubts about why I came here and doubts with the coaches.

"At the same time, I made a decision to come here and I wasn’t going to leave."

After pitching just 8 2/3 innings his entire junior year, the transfer from Cosumnes River College will become the only Hawaii pitcher to start every weekend so far this season when he takes the mound Sunday against Cal State Northridge. The three-game series begins tonight at Les Murakami Stadium.

At 6 feet 6, MacDonald has stood out among his teammates as an imposing presence on the mound.

Now, as the only UH pitcher with a winning record, his size isn’t the only attribute that has scouts talking.

Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso thinks this might not be the end of the road for a pitcher who threw in only three of the Rainbows’ final 46 games last season.

"He’s got good stuff and I think he’s put himself in the conversation to get drafted," Trapasso said. "He’s come in from Day 1 this fall throwing strikes and has been our most consistent guy from September until today."

MacDonald, 4-3 with a 3.90 ERA, is responsible for half of UH’s wins this season, including its only two away from home.

He’s pitching in a role he thought he would get as soon as he came to Hawaii in the fall of 2011.

Instead, he threw in each of Hawaii’s first two opening series and was barely heard from again.

"I really thought I was going to be a starter," MacDonald said. "I took the summer off from throwing before I came out here and I think I put a little too much pressure on myself because I thought I was going to come out here and be the main guy for them."

Trapasso thought MacDonald could be a weekend starter when he committed to the Rainbows before his sophomore year of JC ball.

But with Matt Sisto returning after he wasn’t drafted and Jarrett Arakawa back after a surprising freshman year, spots in the rotation were at a premium.

The Western Athletic Conference cut down its series from four games to three and Hawaii also had Scott Squier, an incoming high-draft freshman.

Sisto, Arakawa and Squier started 44 of the team’s 55 games and all three posted ERA’s of 3.50 or better.

"The truth is, given the opportunity and sticking with it, (MacDonald) may have developed into that last year," Trapasso said. "We just had guys that pitched better ahead of him and we were putting up such good numbers all year long, ranking in the top five in the country in walks per game, that we rode those guys."

With Squier the only healthy returning starter and half of the pitching staff gone either via graduation or transfer, the opportunity was there and MacDonald took full advantage.

He spent the summer pitching for Vermont in the New England Collegiate Baseball League and said he felt like a different guy when he came back for his senior year.

"I came in here with a chip on my shoulder,’ MacDonald said. "About halfway through fall everything really started to click and I realized I could contribute to this team. I knew I was a good pitcher and I wanted to have fun and enjoy my last year, but at the same time work as hard as I could to get into this spot."

MacDonald earned the spot and has no intention of giving it up.

Since failing to make it out of the sixth inning in his first start against Oregon, MacDonald has pitched at least six innings in every outing since, with two complete games.

He hadn’t given up more than four runs until Cal Poly roughed him up for six last weekend. But he managed to get through seven innings and allowed his team to get him the win despite not having his best stuff.

"He’s got a quiet toughness about him," Trapasso said. "He doesn’t talk much, but what we’ve seen with him all year long is when he gives up some runs or has a bad inning, he’s able to stop the bleeding and right himself.

"He’s really the kind of guy that doesn’t seem to pitch well until he gives up a run, and then when he does, he bears down."

As rough as this season has been for the Rainbows, MacDonald takes comfort in knowing he has at least one game every weekend to put the entire team on his back.

"I’m pitching now," MacDonald said. "I can go out there and say I can win a ball game for my team.

"Instead of going out there hoping to do good, I know I’m going to go out there and do something good and that’s a big difference for me."

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