The Hawaii baseball team’s end game will now involve its best starter.

Coach Mike Trapasso confirmed that right-handed pitcher Dylan Thomas will return to the closer’s role to help fix the Rainbow Warriors’ leaky bullpen. The ’Bows blew a 3-1 lead on Saturday and a 7-4 advantage on Sunday. The UH relievers relinquished a total of six runs in the final two innings of both losses.

“We’re forced to move Dylan back to the ’pen,” Trapasso said in advance of Thursday’s opener against Cal State Bakersfield. “We’ll do that this weekend. Obviously, we don’t have a choice.”

As a sophomore in 2018, Thomas led the Big West with 14 saves. He was named the top reliever in the prestigious Cape Cod Baseball League last summer. But it was decided to move Thomas to starter to expand his repertoire — a slider was his primary pitch last year — and enhance his value. His debut as a starter was delayed because of a blister on the middle finger of his (right) pitching hand. After two relief appearances, Thomas moved into the rotation. In two starts, Thomas has a 1.38 earned-run average with 15 strikeouts in 13 innings.

“I don’t want to overreact,” Trapasso said. “My job as the head coach is to be the adult in the room and not overreact. But there’s no question what you have to do when you lose two games late. I didn’t want the recency to really affect a decision. But it’s pretty obvious we struggled on the back end without Dylan.”

Trapasso said Li‘i Pontes, Jeremy Wu-Yelland and Dominic DeMiero will be UH’s starting pitchers in the first three games against Bakersfield. Trapasso has not decided on a starter for Sunday’s series finale.

“We’ve been getting quality starts from the other guys, and that allows us to put Dylan back in the closer role,” Trapasso said. “From a confidence standpoint, it’ll be helpful for team morale in many ways. It’s demoralizing when you lose games late when you’ve played well and one or two guys struggle out of the bullpen. That will give us a shot in the arm knowing we’ll have Dylan back there.”

Trapasso said he is hopeful freshman pitcher Aaron Davenport will be available this weekend. Davenport did not pitch this past weekend because of a strain in his right shoulder. But Davenport threw without discomfort in a bullpen session on Sunday. He is scheduled to test his arm on Wednesday.

“And if he feels good, he’ll be available for the weekend,” Trapasso said. “That’s big.”

Catcher/infielder Dallas Duarte (sprained ankle), shortstop Maaki Yamazaki (groin) and third baseman Ethan Lopez (strained calf) are expected to play against Bakersfield. Center fielder Adam Fogel is scheduled to receive a second opinion on his injured right shoulder. Fogel is expected to undergo surgery at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in California.