By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

History tells us that the University of Hawai'i baseball team might want to take a minute and pose for pictures with an enlarged copy of this week's Western Athletic Conference standings.

For here are the Rainbows still clinging to a share of second place in the conference and it is almost May.

If that doesn't exactly sound like a "Kodak Moment" in the making, then ponder this bit of trivia for a moment: The Rainbows haven't finished a season in second place or higher since 1992, which was the last time they won the conference.

Their best chance at ending that drought now sits before them with three consecutive conference series, beginning with tomorrow's opener of a three-game series with Nevada, the team that shares second place.

Then, thanks to a quirk in the schedule that makes the Rainbows (24-15) the only team in the WAC this year to get back-to-back-to-back conference series at home, comes first-place Rice and Fresno State, the team breathing down their necks. Having three consecutive conference series at home is a blessing that has come rarely to UH, the last time in 2001.

Now it remains to be seen what the Rainbows will do with the opportunity. With just 17 games left in this season — 10 in Manoa, including a makeup game with Hawai'i Pacific — what the Rainbows do at home between tomorrow and the May 15 home finale figures to pretty much decide the fate of their season.

The nine WAC home games amount to 30 percent of the Rainbows' season, the importance of which is not lost on them.

"If you look at the way our schedule sets up, these next 10 games could, in a very real way, be the make-or-break for our season on how we end up finishing," says UH coach Mike Trapasso. "And, that's not to knock the two series (on the road at Nevada and San Jose State) we will have afterward to finish our season. It just shows you how important this stretch of home games can be."

Get back to the winning ways they had enjoyed before the last road trip and the Rainbows have a lot to take aim at. While first place is all but spoken for by Rice, which has a seven-game lead and has lost just once in 17 WAC games (to the Rainbows), UH's preseason goal of 35 victories is still reachable, and so is a shot at second place. Both would be significant accomplishments considering the Rainbows were 16-40 and dead last in the conference two years ago.

First things first, however, which means finding a way to support what has been consistent pitching and steady defense with some much-needed runs on this homestand.

For these Rainbows, home is more than just where the heart is, it is also where the hopes for this season rest.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.