On Opening Day for the big leagues, the University of Hawaii played a baseball game that you could consider extended spring training — in the middle of the season.

Well, UH played seven innings of it anyway. UC Santa Barbara stayed awake for the last two and won 10-4 at Les Murakami Stadium on Sunday.

Thankfully for the Rainbows, this one didn’t count in the Big West standings.

It also benefits UH that all the conference series are just three games. In this case, it means Hawaii is 2-1 in its new league (a league we all know is a good one). In the long run, it means UH’s injury-depleted pitching staff won’t be stretched nine more innings. We got a look at what that could mean Sunday, and it wasn’t pretty.

Hawaii led 4-3 after five, but it was Easter eggs the rest of the way at the plate and an alarming backend relief pitching collapse. Let’s just say that in the eighth and ninth UH might have been better off on the mound with someone from the Bud Light Bullpen.

Coach Mike Trapasso has found some promising relief from the dugout, though, in the form of backup first baseman Max Duval.

Trapasso refers to Duval as "John" by mistake sometimes. John Duval is Max’s father, and was Trapasso’s teammate at Oklahoma State.

John, like Trapasso, was a pitcher on those powerhouse Cowboys teams. But he never pushed his son toward the mound.

"Growing up it was one of those things, ‘I’m not going to force you because kids hurt their arms pitching.’ " said Max Duval, after pitching two hitless innings against the Gauchos on Sunday.

IT WAS JUST the second mound appearance for the 6-foot-5 right-hander, and he’s nearly perfect. He’s faced 10 batters and just one has reached base, on a walk.

Duval has done it the way Trapasso likes, keeping the ball low in the strike zone and pitching to contact. No strikeouts.

"He comes in and throws strikes," Trapasso said. He’s new, so he’s not going to over-think it. Just throw strikes and go out there and challenge hitters. It’s fun to see, especially because of the challenges he’s had here, and he’s been through it all."

It was beginning to look like Duval’s two years at Manoa would be disappointing on the field. He tore it up his first fall, and much was expected of him in 2012. But he struggled with breaking pitches and hit just .186 in 140 at-bats. This year Duval is just 1-for-9, as Marc Flores has established himself at first.

"Obviously I didn’t get off to a good start (at the plate). So I enjoy the chance to get out there and contribute," Duval said.

His previous pitching experience is "just a couple of innings here and there," he said. An inning last summer. A couple of emergency appearances in junior college. Some bullpen work in high school.

"We toyed with it in the fall. When Andrew (Jones) got hurt, we put him on a bullpen program," Trapasso said. "It’s borne of necessity. But it’s something that could be a good story. He throws 86 to 90 (mph), with control. He’s so young to the job that it will take him a while to throw his secondary pitches (curve, changeup) to contact. But if he keeps improving, he could get drafted."

For now, he can certainly help his team a lot more as a relief pitcher than as a backup first baseman.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as @dave_reardon.