Mississippi State had its luau last night, but Hawai'i feasted on the Bulldogs earlier in an 11-5 win yesterday to take the series, 3-1.

A crowd of 1,485 at Les Murakami Stadium saw the Rainbows (6-6) post double-digit runs and hits (12) for the second consecutive game against the Bulldogs (8-4), who were ranked 26th before today's Collegiate Baseball newspaper's top 30 was announced.

Last year, UH struggled to a 9-19 first half. So winning a series in its third weekend after losing 3 of 4 to UC Irvine and splitting a four-game road trip at Minnesota is something the Rainbows can build on.

"It's important just to win," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "It doesn't matter who you play. We had to go through last year to have the club we have this year, to get those young guys out there, to have some adversity and learn from it."

The Rainbows did just that. After dropping the series opener, 3-1, they battled back to win the last three games of the series, breaking out of a hitting slump in the process. Hawai'i started the series hitting .231.

On Saturday, UH did all of its damage in a 10-5 win by scoring in one inning. Yesterday, the Rainbows scored in six of eight innings.

"Last night we had a fairy tale inning, 10 runs," said UH center fielder Kolten Wong, who smacked his first career home run yesterday. "Today, we had a real game. We battled every inning."

Added shortstop Greg Garcia: "Our motto is one run an inning. Great win, great series all the way around. Pitching, defense and offensively, we got some timely hits."

But timing didn't help UH starter Matt Sisto, who could not take advantage of a 7-0 lead after three innings, when the Bulldogs pulled to 7-4 in the fifth. Sisto went four-plus innings, giving up three runs, seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts, falling an inning shy of qualifying for the decision. After Ryan Davis labored by allowing a run and three hits in one-third of an inning, Josh Slaats took control the rest of the way.

It was only a week ago yesterday that the sophomore right-hander blew a save in a 5-4 loss to Minnesota. Yesterday, Slaats finished with 4 2/3 innings, allowing a run, three hits and a walk with five strikeouts for his first career win after going 0-5 as a freshman last season.

"I was feeling good," said Slaats (1-1) of his extended outing. "I wasn't getting tired."

Trapasso, a reliever himself when he pitched for Oklahoma State, was happy for Slaats.

"I've been there," Trapasso said. "I've blown saves. When you blow saves when your team is playing really well, you really have to wear it. And he had to wait a whole week."

But the batters supported him with add-on runs to make it 11-4. The last spike was driven by Wong's homer, a two-run shot to right over both walls in the seventh.

"I felt like I was due," Wong said. "I was hitting balls and they weren't falling, so I felt I just had to get something. He left me a curveball and I just got it."

That the Rainbows were able to back the pitching pleased Trapasso.

"We were able to get the lead early and for the most part, hold on to it," Trapasso said. "I thought this was a team effort. This was an offensive win for us."

Six Rainbows drove in runs with Wong, Shane Hoey and Matt Roquemore each driving in two. Garcia was 3 for 4 with three runs.

The Rainbows jumped on MSU starter Chad Crosswhite (0-1) for seven runs in two-plus innings.

Garcia led off the bottom of the first with a single to right-center and moved to second when Wong reached on second baseman Jet Butler's fielding error. Vinnie Catricala's RBI single gave UH a 1-0 lead, as Wong took third. Kevin Macdonald had an apparent sacrifice fly, but it turned into a double play when the umpire ruled Wong left the bag before left fielder Brent Brownlee made the catch.

UH then added three runs in the second and three more in the third.

The Bulldogs got back-to-back doubles from Luke Adkins and Connor Powers to pull to 7-1 in the fourth. They sent nine batters to the plate in a three-run fifth to pull to 7-4. Sisto was lifted after giving up a lead-off triple to Ryan Collins and back-to-back singles to Scott DeLoach and pinch hitter Cody Freeman.

"I thought Sisto was good early," Trapasso said. "They made the right adjustment. They took his changeup away and he struggled with his breaking ball and turned him into a one-pitch guy. We've got to go back to work and get a third pitch figured out or teams will start doing that to him more because we go to the well too often with that changeup."

Davis lasted four batters before giving way to Slaats, who settled the inning and game.

The Rainbows got single runs in the fifth and sixth and Wong's two-run home run in the seventh that made it 11-4.

Next up for UH is Loyola Marymount (8-6), picked to finish seventh in the eight-team West Coast Conference. The Lions will be here for a four-game series starting Thursday. Loyola Marymount was swept in a four-game series by UC Santa Barbara over the weekend.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertis er.com or 525-8042.