In desperate need of a stopper at the end of games, the Hawaii baseball team is going to go with experience.

Seniors Cody Culp and Matt Valencia, the only two relievers to pitch more than 13 innings last season, will get the first crack at nailing down a late-inning lead starting tonight when Hawaii hosts West Virginia for the first of a four-game series at Les Murakami Stadium.

In seven games against Division I opponents, Hawaii (4-5) has held a ninth-inning lead of three runs or less three times and blown every one.

The Rainbow Warriors recovered to win two of those games in extra innings, but it kept Hawaii from earning a sweep of its series last week against San Francisco.

Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso has played matchups to determine who comes out of the bullpen, but has ultimately used junior college transfer Casey Ryan to try for the final outs.

Ryan has blown two saves and the entire UH bullpen has allowed 21 earned runs in 292⁄3 innings for a 6.37 ERA.

Those numbers include Culp and Valencia, who have combined to allow one run in 111⁄3 innings with seven hits allowed and nine strikeouts.

“(They) had another big weekend for us and those two guys with the experience they have and the stuff they have, while they are not your prototype back-end guys, they are going to be the guys we match up with to start off with,” Trapasso said.

Hawaii got quality starts of at least six innings and three earned runs or less allowed from all three starters last week against the Dons.

UH hit .351 to raise its team batting average to .282, ranking just outside the top 100 in the nation.

The offense, which averaged 8.0 runs a game against USF, will face a tough test the next two weeks.

The Mountaineers, who swept UNLV last weekend, are ranked 17th in the country with a 2.04 ERA. As impressive as that is, Michigan, which plays a four-game series here next week, is second in the country at 1.19.

Hawaii has never played West Virginia and faced the Wolverines only twice in nonconference tournaments.

“You love to bring in teams outside of your region because it’s something different and something new for your fans, but you’re also bringing in tremendous teams,” Trapasso said. “There’s definitely a challenge ahead of us.”

Senior Matt LoCoco and freshman Kekai Rios have impressed at the plate. LoCoco is already the first Rainbow player in four years with at least two triples and two homers hit in the same season.

Rios, who is forced to take on a heavy load with the injury suffered by catcher Chayce Ka’aua two weeks ago, hit .538 (7-for-15) against the Dons. LoCoco, who has hit leadoff in every game, leads the team in slugging percentage (.564) and runs scored (nine) and is tied for second with seven RBIs.

“We’ve got a pretty decent lineup with a lot of guys who can drive in a lot of runs and I’m just trying to help with that,” LoCoco said. “We caught a glimpse (against USF) of how we can be.”

Hawaii will play 16 homes games in a 25-day stretch in March. With Ka’aua not expected back until after that, Rios can expect a busy month behind the plate.

“I feel like I belong here,” Rios said. “I’ve got more games under my belt and feel like I’m ready for this. I’m just trying to do the same job that Chayce does and helping my team win.”

Junior outfielder Marcus Doi wasn’t sure Wednesday whether he’d be able to return from a sprained ankle that forced him to miss the last three games.

He hasn’t done anything other than some light jogging since injuring the ankle 10 days ago against New Mexico.