There’s no wiggle room left for the Hawaii baseball team.

The Rainbow Warriors are in must-win mode to stay afloat in the Big West Conference race this season and it won’t be easy.

Hawaii (18-20, 7-5 Big West) will play nine of its final 15 games against teams ranked in the top 28 of the latest Collegiate Baseball poll, beginning with No. 17 UC Santa Barbara today for the first of a three-game series.

UH is 1 1⁄2 games out of first place but three back in the loss column heading into what is close to an elimination series for the loser.

The Gauchos, who are ranked ninth in the RPI heading into the weekend, were swept last weekend by Cal Poly, which jumped into a first-place tie with Cal State Fullerton.

Hawaii had a disappointing series of its own, losing two of three against eighth-place Cal State Northridge, which had won just one of its first nine league games.

The Rainbow Warriors have lost five of their last six after starting conference play 6-1.

CSUN snapped a nine-game winning streak on the road in conference by UH and then handed Hawaii the first of two tough back-to-back defeats.

CSUN took the rubber match of the series on Sunday with a 9-3 victory and Loyola Marymount hammered Hawaii 13-2 on Monday.

“Everyone has got to be better and it starts with me,” Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said after Monday’s loss. “I haven’t done a good enough job preparing (this team) to play the last couple of games.”

Hawaii has had its share of success against the Gauchos since joining the Big West, winning two of the three series.

UH is 5-4 against UCSB and came within one run of sweeping the Gauchos in California two years ago when UCSB was ranked 10th in the country.

Hawaii scored 22 runs in that series and needs to get back to the form it showed at the plate early in conference play.

UH is 7-0 when scoring more than four runs in league games and 0-5 when scoring four runs or fewer.

Hawaii has been held to three runs or fewer in four of its last five games.

“We’ve been swinging the bat well,” Trapasso said Monday. “We’ll see if (the recent struggles) continue.”

The biggest difference is in the middle of the lineup. Run producers Eric Ramirez (2-for-18, one RBI over last five games) and Marcus Doi (4-for-23, two RBIs over six games) have been unable to drive in runners that continue to get on.

Leadoff hitter Matt LoCoco leads the Big West with 30 walks and has reached base in nine of his last 15 plate appearances.

Johnny Weeks is hitting .391 (9-for-23) over his last six games and Jacob Sheldon-Collins is one of 27 players in the country hitting over .400, raising his average to .401 with six hits in his last three games.

UC Santa Barbara will open the series with ace Shane Bieber (7-2, 3.30 ERA), who has thrown three straight complete games.

The Gauchos have won 13 straight at home and have the top offense in the Big West averaging 5.7 runs per game.

Hawaii has given up more than five runs only twice in 12 Big West games.