One of the biggest question marks entering the season is one of Hawaii’s greatest strengths.

Hand Cody Culp and Matt Valencia a lead and the result is going to turn out pretty good for the Rainbow Warriors (19-25, 8-10 Big West), who are 15-1 when ahead after six innings.

That one loss came early in the year when the ’Bows were still figuring out their bullpen situation.

Junior-college transfer Casey Ryan was the hardest thrower of the bunch and got the first look, but the reliability of the two seniors have made Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso’s late-game decision making pretty easy with a lead.

“Those two guys have taken control of the back end of the bullpen,” Trapasso said. “If we go into the seventh (inning) with a lead we feel pretty comfortable.”

Neither of the two fit the prototype of a back-end closer. They both can’t touch 90 on a radar gun and at six feet, are two of the smaller late-game relievers.

What they do bring is a uniqueness to the position that has baffled opponents all season.

Culp, a 5-foot-11 right-hander from Anacortes, Wash., has a funky across-the-body delivery that attacks hitters from a unique angle.

It allows him to pitch multiple days in a row and his 25 appearances rank third in the Big West. He pitched in all three games of the Cal Poly series and came back after throwing 49 pitches in Saturday’s extra-inning loss to Long Beach State to record the final out of the top of the ninth inning on Sunday.

“We knew that Culp was a guy we could use in a lot of different ways,” Trapasso said. “The fortunate thing with us is he’s got one of those arms that can throw every single day and he’s a special guy that wants the baseball every day.”

His durability is impressive even to his teammates, who were amazed to see him back out there pitching again on Sunday.

“I don’t know how he does it because I throw once a week and my arm is killing me every time,” said starter Kyle Von Ruden. “His arm really is made of rubber.”

Valencia, a left-hander from Stockton, Calif., doesn’t have the same bounce-back capabilities of Culp, but features the most devastating pitch on the staff.

No matter the count or the situation, Valencia won’t hesitate to use his curveball that has fooled everyone he faced.

In 212⁄3 innings, Valencia has allowed only one earned run with 27 strikeouts and has struck out at least one batter in all eight appearances in Big West play.

“My dad taught me how to throw it when I was 12 or 13 years old and I’ve been throwing it ever since,” Valencia said. “Even guys on the team ask me how I throw it and I show them and they say, ‘that’s it?’ It’s nothing complicated.”

Valencia came to UH from San Joaquin Delta College where he went 10-2 with a 2.40 ERA as a sophomore.

Trapasso had him pegged as a front-line rotation guy but his velocity wasn’t where it needed to be.

He averaged more than a strikeout an inning as a junior but gave up 17 hits in 192⁄3 innings and was 0-2 with a 4.58 ERA.

This season, he’s allowed only five hits in 212⁄3 innings for a .076 batting average against.

“I’m really happy about how things are going this year,” Valencia said. “I’m going to end up with more innings than last year and I feel like when I come into games we’re in big situations and having the confidence from coach to put me in those situations is a good feeling.”

Hawaii has lost eight of its last 10 games heading into this weekend’s series against UC Riverside (20-25, 7-8) that includes a doubleheader on Sunday and no game on Saturday due to graduation.