Junior right-hander Jared Alexander gave Hawai'i the shot in the arm it needed to beat Fresno State, 4-0, last night in the Western Athletic Conference season opener for both teams.

Alexander (3-2) fired a four-hitter in recording the team's first shutout of the season and second complete game. He struck out a season-high 10 and walked two as the Rainbows (8-13 overall, 1-0 WAC) snapped a four-game losing skid before 1,094 at Les Murakami Stadium.

"Felt real good to open up conference with a shutout," Alexander said.

It was UH's third consecutive win against the Bulldogs (8-11, 0-1) here; UH won the last two games of the regular season last year against FSU, which then went on to win the WAC tournament.

"It always starts with the guy on the mound and Jared just picked us up by going out there, working fast and putting up zeros," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "That allowed our guys to relax."

Alexander didn't allow more than one base runner in an inning until the eighth, when gave up a walk and single. Then in the ninth, a rare throwing error by second baseman Jon Hee put Erik Wetzel on to start the inning and Alexander gave up a single to Alan Ahmady, who had half of the Bulldogs' hits. After Ahmady's hit put runners at the corners with one out, Trapasso paid a visit to Alexander.

"He told me to slow my mechanics down, have fun," Alexander said.

"I just went out there to break his rhythm a little bit," Trapasso said. "Let him catch his breath more than anything else."

Alexander struck out Tommy Mendonca and retired Steve Detwiler on a grounder to first to end the game.

Alexander engaged in a duel with Bulldogs ace Tanner Scheppers (3-2), a junior right-hander projected to go high in the June draft. Scheppers tied a career-high with 11 strikeouts, but the Rainbows made it tough on him with good at-bats — making him throw strikes and fouling off pitches to keep at-bats alive. He was up to 62 pitches by the end of the third inning and was pulled after six having thrown 118. He gave up three runs, two earned, five hits and a walk.

Fresno State coach Mike Batesole, who was not at last night's game while serving the second of a two-game suspension by the WAC because of benches-clearing incident last week, and Trapasso had concerns about their offenses entering the series.

"We had a great approach tonight, one that we've hadn't had for a while," Trapasso said. "We worked on being aggressive, but also changing our contact points so we could see the ball a little longer."

The Rainbows scored in the second inning. Brandon Haislet led off with a single to right and, one out later, stole second. After Nate Young struck out, Sean Montplaisir tripled to center to score Haislet. Montplaisir then scored on Hee's flare single to center to make it 2-0.

Hawai'i added a run in the fifth. Montplaisir led off with a single to center. Then, with Montplaisir running, Hee reached over the plate on a pitchout, but the catcher's glove clipped his bat, putting runners at first and second on catcher's interference.

"You just do whatever it takes to get the ball on the ground," Hee said. "I was actually going to throw my bat, but I just reached out and got it."

After Matt Roquemore struck out, Alex Myers walked to load the bases. Vinnie Catricala chopped out to short to advance the runners and make it 3-0. But Scheppers struck out Jeff Van Doornum to end the inning.

The Rainbows squandered a golden opportunity in the sixth when Haislet led off with a triple. Scheppers then struck out the next three batters to escape damage.

Hawai'i made up for it in the seventh against reliever Jake Floethe. Hee led off with a double to left-center, then took third when Roquemore grounded out to second. With the infield drawn in, Hee scored on Myers' line single to right that barely went over the second baseman's glove to make it 4-0.

The Rainbows needed this kind of performance after struggling the last week.

"We came out with a lot energy tonight," Hee said. "This is conference already. We're starting at 0-0. Everybody bought in."

But there are three more to go in the series.

"Obviously, it doesn't mean anything if we think we're all that and go out the next three games and play like we have the last three," Trapasso said. "We'll see how we play when we come out tomorrow, whether we have the maturity to come out and play at that same level."

Game time today is 6:35 p.m.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.