In the hotel lobby Monday morning, University of Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso presented a plaque to outfielder Alex Fitchett — and a starting job.

“The way he’s been playing, he won’t be coming out of the lineup anytime soon,” Trapasso said of Fitchett, who was named most valuable player of this past weekend’s Dairy Queen Classic in Minnesota. “He’s earned that.”

Later Monday, Fitchett was named the Big West player of the week.

Fitchett was 8-for-16 in the standalone game against Minnesota and the three-day tournament. He hit two home runs, a triple and two doubles to finish with a slugging percentage of 1.125. Fitchett showed discipline in his swing selection against highly regarded pitchers in a spacious domed stadium built for football games.

“You have to realize they’re just college pitchers,” Fitchett said, “the same age as you, if not younger, because I’m pretty old. You have to eliminate the outside noises and focus on ‘it’s another pitch, it’s another game of baseball.’”

Fitchett displayed the same maturity when he did not start in five of the first six games this season. He broke into the lineup after outfielders Marcus Doi and Adam Fogel suffered hamstring issues. He started 38 games, mostly in right field, as a junior in 2016.

“That’s why he’s one of our team leaders,” Trapasso said. “It doesn’t matter whether he’s playing or not playing. He’s engaged, and he’s working with the other guys, the young guys. He’s as good a team player (as) you’ll be around. He’s been tremendous.”

Fitchett said: “I look to myself as one of the elders on the team. I can’t let things out of my control affect who I am or affect the team in how I’m acting. I support the guys. The coach is going to play the best nine. If you’re not one of them, you’ve got to do your job on the bench and support those guys. And that’s the role I took the first couple weeks.”

Fitchett began his collegiate career as a seldom-used pitcher at Sacramento State. He then followed a suggestion to transfer to a junior college to gain more innings. But he suffered arm issues at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento and switched to the outfield.

“We saw the tools,” Trapasso said of Fitchett’s skills. “The tools were raw, and still are. But they’re getting refined. And they’re getting refined because of how hard he works.”

Trapasso and Cosumnes coach Tony Bloomfield are close friends. Over the past decade, 14 Cosumnes players transferred to UH. Fitchett is “another in the long line of Tony Bloomfield players we’ve got from Cosumnes River,” Trapasso said.