Two big-time performances on the road have Scott Squier right back where coach Mike Trapasso wants him.
The sophomore southpaw will take the mound Friday night as the Rainbows No. 1 starter as Hawaii returns home for two consecutive Big West Conference series, beginning with Cal State Northridge at Les Murakami Stadium.
Squier, who began the year as Hawaii’s ace, was taken out of the rotation after four starts, when he lasted just 32⁄3 innings in a loss to Wichita State.
He allowed five runs in six innings against UC Santa Barbara before sitting out the entire UC Irvine series.
It was the first time in his career Squier missed an entire series.
"I really wasn’t disappointed," Squier said. "Coach told me I was going to the bullpen and I was like, ‘all right, I’ll do my best to help the team out of the ‘pen.’
"I understood where he was coming from and got an opportunity against UCLA and tried to take advantage of it."
Squier allowed two hits in seven innings against the Bruins, ranked between 11 and 13 in four major polls.
Against Cal Poly on Sunday, Hawaii led 7-5 when the Mustangs put runners on second and third with nobody out in the eighth.
Squier made his second appearance out of the bullpen and allowed a sacrifice fly before stranding the tying run on third to end inning.
He finished off the ninth to record his first save and give Hawaii its first true road win of the season.
As a result, he’s back where Trapasso hopes he stays.
"He’s got the stuff for it," Trapasso said. "The only reason he hasn’t been in the 1-hole all year long is because with our pitching depth, we have to have our Friday guy give us seven innings.
"The last two outings he was down in the zone, he was back to getting early-count outs, back to throwing his breaking ball for strikes, and he’s got the stuff to be a Friday guy."
The win kept Hawaii within striking distance of a cluster of teams battling for second place in the Big West.
No. 4 Cal State Fullerton has a firm hold on the conference lead at 8-1 with five teams separated by a game for second place.
Hawaii, which has already played two of the three ranked Big West teams, can squeeze its way in there with a good series against the Matadors (19-17, 5-4).
"The entire conference season when we were in the WAC was six series so we basically have a whole WAC season to go," Trapasso said. "There’s plenty of baseball to play and plenty of things to play for.
"Has it been disappointing so far? Of course it has, but there’s nothing that says we can’t change it."
Junior Matt Cooper (2-4, 2.53) will start under the lights Saturday after giving up four hits in eight innings against Cal Poly last week. Corey MacDonald (4-3, 3.90), who has both of UH’s wins away from home, will pitch Sunday with senior Connor Little moving to the bullpen.
Little has allowed 14 runs in 18 innings in his past three starts.
The Matadors haven’t finished above .500 in conference play since current Fresno State coach Mike Batesole’s last season in 2002.
Cal State Northridge has already played at UC Irvine and at Long Beach State.
Its next six league games are against Hawaii and Pacific, which are a combined 5-13 in conference and 17-45 overall.
Reliever Harley Holt, a 2010 Kamehameha alumnus, is 3-2 with a 4.32 ERA and two saves this season. He’s struck out 24 in 331⁄3 innings and has a 1.72 ERA pitching in relief.
