When Pacific left the Big West to join the West Coast Conference after last season, it created a hole in Hawaii’s schedule during league play.

Faced with the difficult task of finding a team to play in Hawaii in early May, UH coach Mike Trapasso found Division I independent New York Institute of Technology as the visitor for a four-game set starting Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium.

Hawaii (15-25), which already is at a disadvantage of playing few midweek games because of location, had the real possibility of playing no one before the Bears stepped up to make the long trip to the islands.

"We’re grateful for New York Tech being available and willing to come out because we had a hard time filling this week," Trapasso said. "A lot of schools are winding down conference play and a lot of schools are in or close to finals week and New York Tech, because they are an independent and not affiliated with a conference, is able to come because otherwise this would be a weekend off."

The Bears are 4-36 after losing 33 of their first 34 games and provide a nice opportunity for Hawaii to get back on track.

The Rainbow Warriors went 1-12 in the month of April, losing six games by one run.

"We’ve got to play within ourselves," shortstop Austin Wobrock said. "A lot of times in the past few weeks we haven’t been ourselves and we need to get back to that."

Hawaii needs to win 12 of its final 13 games to avoid its first consecutive losing seasons since 1973-74, when the school played fewer than 20 games a year.

Although his team is out of postseason contention, Trapasso said Thursday there is still a lot on the line these next four weeks.

"We have an awful lot to play for," Trapasso said. "This weekend will be good for us, hopefully, because we’re playing four games to get a lot of guys involved. We’ve got a lot to play for and we’re going to play better and finish strong."

Every UH pitcher who has toed the rubber this season will need to be ready as Hawaii plays four games in three days for just the second time this season.

Junior Jarrett Arakawa will miss his fourth start in the past five weeks after throwing 42⁄3 innings in a 2-1 loss in 11 innings to Cal State Fullerton last Sunday.

"I feel bad for Jarrett because he’s just been battling this thing all season," Trapasso said.

Even with Arakawa’s limited availability, Hawaii’s four pitchers who have made 38 of the 40 starts this year have a combined ERA of 2.60.

Senior Matt Cooper is third in the conference with 71 strikeouts and ninth in ERA at 1.72 after throwing nine shutout innings against Cal State Fullerton last Friday.

‘Bows get commitment from Bellevue pitcher

Left-hander Alex Hatch, a sophomore at Bellevue (Wash.) College, has given an oral commitment to play baseball at UH next season.

He is the sixth known pitching commit for the class of 2015, joining five who signed in the fall.

Hatch, who is 6 feet, is 3-3 with a 2.05 ERA this season with 32 strikeouts in 35 innings.

Current Rainbow pitchers Cooper and Scott Kuzminsky also went to Bellevue College.

Hatch joins a recruiting class that includes Oxnard (Calif.) sophomore Luke Eubank, who is 10-0 with a 0.77 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 931⁄3 innings this season.

San Joaquin Delta’s Matt Valencia is 8-2 with a 2.29 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 70 2⁄3 innings, and Cosumnes River’s Josh Pigg is 5-3 with a 3.20 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 39 1⁄3 innings.