Practices were closed to the public and media. All this to help build "toughness" and "competitiveness."

"Part of it, I take the blame for the start we've had," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "We've treated our workouts like professionals. We'd go through everything and work, put the onus on the players to make the adjustments. But we're not pros. We're kids, so we've had to pull the reins. There's been consequences and repercussions for mistakes that we can avoid. We've made too many mental mistakes: missing signs, getting picked off, not having a plan at the plate, not making two-strike adjustments. So we've turned up the dial on those things."

How all this pans out will be revealed in a three-game series starting tonight against Florida International. It is an interesting series between teams with high expectations, but off to slow starts. The Golden Panthers, picked to finish second in the nine-team Sun Belt Conference, are 1-4.

With questions revolving around the starting rotation, the Rainbows are on a situation-by-situation basis after Ricky Bauer, tonight's starting pitcher.

The hinge after that is Clary Carlsen. He could start tomorrow or Sunday, if not used in relief tonight. If he does start one of those days, the other start could be from Keahi Rawlins, Steven Wright, Rich Olsen or even Stephen Bryant, who has been reliable from the bullpen.

Sophomores Rawlins and Olsen and freshman Wright were shaky in their only starts. But they also are the foundation of the future.

"They have to be ready to pitch at any time," Trapasso said. "That's not the ideal situation for everybody, but for most guys, it's the better way to go. The young guys sometimes get too amped, so it just best to be ready to go at all times. We're just not in an ideal situation right now."

The Rainbows are looking to get left-hander Mark Rodrigues, who has tenderness in his pitching arm, in the rotation soon. The transfer from Los Medanos College has yet to pitch, but could see action out of the bullpen in this series, Trapasso said.

The bullpen is the only area where the Rainbows have had some consistency. From innings in relief situations, the team's earned run average is 2.87. Freshman Darrell Fisherbaugh, sophomores Guy McDowell and Olsen, and JC transfer Bryant have been effective in their relief outings.

Offense also has been an issue for a team averaging just under five runs per game with a team batting average of .213.

Creighton Kahoali'i, a transfer from California, hit the ball consistently hard in two games against Cal State Northridge. Kahoali'i, who is batting .250 and tied for the team lead with four RBI, will start at third base. Rocky Russo (.222), who had started at third, has been moved to DH and is the other leader with four RBI.

Oklahoma transfer Greg Kish, who started in half the games, will start in all three games this weekend in either right or left field. Although Kish's batting average is .231, Trapasso said he noticed a correlation between the games that he started to the Rainbows playing more competitively.

Second base has become a battle between sophomore Isaac Omura, a Freshman All-America pick last year, and junior Schafer Magana. Magana is batting .111, while Omura is mired in an 0 for 14 slump. Omura batted .301 last season.

"In the long run, we know for us to be successful, we need Isaac to play like we know he's capable of and that's a .300 hitter."