For three hours on May 24, it wasn’t just rain that washed away the painful losses and bitter disappointments that filled the 2014 Hawaii baseball season.

Senior Matt Cooper put a bow on one of the most impressive seasons in UH history by a starting pitcher. He struck out 11 in 7 2/3 innings, beating UC Riverside at Les Murakami Stadium.

Cooper became the first UH pitcher to strike out 100 baters in a season since 2006. He finished with a 1.60 ERA, the best by a UH starting pitcher since Derek Tatsuno in 1979.

Cooper struck out 11 in three of his final five starts to finish with 106, placing him 13th on the school’s single-season list.

He finished with a 6-5 record and was named to the All-Big West second team on Tuesday.

"Now that it’s over, I definitely look back on it and realize that it was an unbelievable season individually," Cooper said. "It just goes to show the determination and the hard work I had to put into it because it definitely didn’t get handed to me."

Cooper’s year stood out in what was otherwise another tough season. The Rainbow Warriors finished 22-31 overall and 6-18 in the Big West Conference.

In two years, Hawaii has gone 17-34 in its new league, winning only five of 17 series.

Head coach Mike Trapasso, who presided over nine winning seasons in 10 years from 2003 to 12, has seen his club suffer through back-to-back 30-loss campaigns for the first time in school history.

Athletic director Ben Jay has given Trapasso a three-year contract extension through 2017, allowing the 13-year head coach a chance to build a team capable of contending in the Big West.

With four teams in this year’s NCAA tournament, the conference ranks as the fifth toughest in the country, behind the SEC, Pac-12, ACC and Big 12, making the job a tough one.

Hawaii put itself in position to make a regional after starting 14-13 against a tough schedule that helped push its RPI into the top 50.

UH played 24 of its 53 games against teams that made a regional and was 12-6 in the 18 games it played against teams ranked outside of the top 100 in RPI.

The key now is improving on a 5-16 record against the RPI top 50 and a 5-12 mark in one-run games.

Pitching, which was Hawaii’s strength, takes a big hit with the losses of seniors Cooper and Scott Kuzminsky and the likely departure of junior Scott Squier, who will be selected in the MLB draft this week.

Those three started 40 of the team’s 53 games and were responsible for 60 percent of the team’s innings.

Hawaii continued its offensive woes in 2014, finishing 254th out of 296 teams with a .249 batting average.

Only four of the nine players to start at least 30 games hit better than .237, and two of them, first baseman Marc Flores (.305, five home runs, 44 RBIs) and outfielder Adam Hurley (.295, seven doubles, 18 runs) were seniors.

Junior Jordan Richartz and freshman Marcus Doi were limited with shoulder injuries. Doi hit .345 but missed 34 games.

A healthy return by both of them along with Kaeo Aliviado (.310, eight doubles, 35 runs) should give UH a solid outfield in 2015.

Second baseman Stephen Ventimilia (.296, 34 runs, 13 stolen bases) will be the cornerstone of an infield that will undergo drastic changes in the offseason.

Expect new starters at first base, shortstop and third base and behind the plate.

Catcher Chayce Ka’aua will be eligible and the likely starter, while sophomores Juliene Jones and LJ Brewster, who combined to start 49 of the 53 games at third base, will see increased roles as relief pitchers.

2014 FINAL STATISTICS

THE 100 K CLUB

Matt Cooper became the 14th UH pitcher to strike out 100 in a season.