FULLERTON, Calif. – The University of Hawai'i baseball team (20-13, 6-3 BWC) will square off this weekend with Cal State Fullerton (17-18, 4-2 BWC) in the biggest series to date this season. The Rainbow Warriors sit atop the Big West standings, just ahead of the Titans with conference implications fully at stake. The teams will meet Friday-Sunday, April 20-22 at CSF's Goodwin Field.
 
Following a single-game midweek contest on Wednesday at CSU Bakersfield, the Rainbow Warriors turn their full attention to the perennially-strong Titans, who made a College World Series appearance last season. However, it is the Warriors who hold not only the league's top conference record, but also overall record.
 
One of the biggest factors for UH's success this season has been the pitching staff, which had the luxury of returning three starters to the fold from a year ago. Those three upperclassmen are projected to take the mound against the Titans. Kicking off the weekend, junior right-hander Jackson Rees leads the starters with a 2.58 ERA, 3-0 record and has a team-high 34 strikeouts. Senior right-hander Neil Uskali follows, tying Long Beach State's Zak Baayoun for the most pitching wins with a 6-2 record, coming in with a 3.88 ERA and 31 strikeouts. Back into weekend rotation and taking over Sunday, left-handed junior Dominic DeMiero is coming off a career-best 8.1-inning shutout to secure the series win over UC Riverside. He's got a 4.15 ERA, 2-3 record and 30 strikeouts on the year. The 'Bows rank 57th nationally and third in the Big West with a 3.72 ERA, thanks to an NCAA eighth-ranked 2.82 walks per game average, allowing 9.16 hits per game, but only 4.4 runs.
 
The Rainbow Warriors also have one of the top closers, as sophomore Dylan Thomas has an NCAA ninth-most 10 saves on the year in 13 opportunities, collecting 25 strikeouts in 21.2 innings with no walks in 17 appearances – not to mention his team-leading 1.25 ERA.
 
In conference games on offense, the Warriors have been red hot, batting .315 as a squad with an average of 11 hits and 5.5 runs per Big West game. Since getting to the BWC, junior catcher Kekai Rios has kicked into another gear, batting .455 against league schools with a .548 on-base percentage.
 
Rios is riding a 15-game hitting streak and has taken over the top UH average at .322, logging 13 RBI and 14 runs after a slow start to the season. After trimming down his Samson-like locks, sophomore right fielder Adam Fogel hit a wall against UC Riverside, but is unlikely to stay down for long. He's hitting .292 after spending most of the last month around .350, but still has a firm grip on team leads in hits (34), RBI (22) and doubles (14) – for which he ranks 24th nationally. As has been the case all season, nearly half of Fogel's hits are for extra bases.
 
Fullerton has been the league's gold standard nearly annually and the Titans are fighting back from a slow start to the year, sweeping their last BWC series over Cal Poly. The Titans bat .255 as a team, but have edged out UH for the top team ERA and sit at 3.66 after Tuesday's 7-4 loss at San Diego.
 
Driving that pitching staff, former freshman All-American RHP Colton Eastman has taken over for CSF, recently tossing the program's fifth no-hitter and holding a 2.31 ERA and 4-3 record, striking out 60. Right-hander Tommy Wilson will come up on Saturday with a 3.32 ERA and 3-0 record, striking out 43. Finally, righty Andrew Quezada will close out Sunday with a 5.11 ERA and 1-4 record, more of a contact pitcher with just 27 strikeouts.
 
The Titans too have a solid closer, as junior Brett Conine has tallied seven saves, a 1-0 record and 2.79 ERA in 18 appearances.
 
Junior outfielder Mitchell Berryhill has been the most consistent hitter for the Titans, batting .315 with 13 RBI and 12 runs. Meanwhile junior outfielder Ruben Cardenas is batting .286 with a team-high 24 runs and 19 RBI, and Daniel Cope has 20 RBI on .281 batting, scoring 17 times. The Titans average 8.5 hits and 4.4 runs per game.

The Rainbow Warriors trail Fullerton 8-19 in the overall series, dating back to 1979. UH is 3-6 against the Titans in Fullerton, but earned their first-ever road series win (2-1) last time as guests in 2016 at Goodwin Field. 

After this week's crucial matchup, the Rainbow Warriors will return to the friendly confines of Les Murakami Stadium, kicking off a six-game Big West homestand on a series against CSUN, April 27-29.

University of Hawai'i Game 34-36
What: Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors (20-13, 5-0 BWC) at Cal State Fullerton Titans (17-18, 4-2 BWC)
When:  Friday, April 20, 2018, 4:00 p.m. HT
             Saturday, April 21, 2018, 3:00 p.m. HT
             Sunday, April 22, 2018, 10:00 a.m. HT
Where: Fullerton, Calif. (Goodwin Field)
Live Streaming: Watch live on the BigWest.tv
Radio: All three games of the series will be broadcast live on the radio and will either appear on ESPN 1420 AM or NBC 1500 AM with Scott Galetti on the call from Fullerton.
Audio Webcast: www.ESPN1420am.com | www.NBCSportsRadioHawaii.com
Live Stats: Live in-game stats will be provided by Cal State Fullerton Athletics