Last year, in the midst of a 16-35 season gone quickly sour, fulfilling ticket requests was the least of University of Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso’s problems.

Now?

"I’ll probably get calls for 60 this week," Trapasso said, not seeming to mind.

Those on the hunt for Rainbow baseball tickets might want to get their orders in pronto because UH is staring at the possibility of a sellout weekend for its home-opening Big West Conference series with UC Irvine starting Friday at Les Murakami Stadium.

The ‘Bows are the hottest college baseball ticket west of Texas, averaging 3,116 tickets distributed per game, according to the NCAA. Overall, UH ranks 14th nationally despite some early wet weather —and the demand is growing.

"We’re preparing for sellouts this weekend," athletic director Ben Jay said.

At of the close of business Thursday, UH said it had already distributed more than 2,175 tickets for each game in the Anteaters series. That includes 2,350 for Friday and 2,605 for Saturday, according to ticket manager Walter Watanabe.

The ‘Bows have two sellouts this season, one Saturday game each against Oregon and Pepperdine, and three more would match the highest total for any season at Les Murakami Stadium in 20 years.

The likelihood of getting there before Easter was greatly enhanced when the ‘Bows took two of three games at then-No. 10 UC Santa Barbara last week. That gave UH a 14-13 (2-1 Big West) record and reason for optimism with the Anteaters (18-10), this week, and No. 5 Cal Poly (24-4), next week, coming in.

"We’re going to need all the help and energy we can get," Trapasso said. "Those guys are good."

To be sure, the Manoa faithful have supplied it.

"We went to Santa Barbara last week and it is a great venue, playing a great team that is having a great year and it made for a good atmosphere," Trapasso said. "But it wasn’t anything that could compare to having 3,500 or 4,000 people (here). They make it just a great, great atmosphere for college baseball that you don’t see too many places."

The Manoa faithful turned out in remarkable numbers last year considering the depth of the ‘Bows’ struggles, nearly hitting 100,000 overall to rank 13th in total attendance. While the support was much appreciated, Trapasso will tell you that, at times, "I think they felt sorry for us last year." 

This year it has so far been a whole new ballgame. The prospect of a competitive team chasing the possibility of a return to the postseason against high-caliber competition has given fans something to really turn out and cheer for. And UH has kept itself above .500 while playing a collective lineup of opponents currently ranked fifth in the nation for strength of schedule.

"I don’t know what you call it — it wouldn’t be the ’12th man’ because this is baseball — but whatever it is, our fans have been that for us," Trapasso said.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.