Hawai'i's celebration of a three-game sweep of Loyola Marymount over the weekend ended about a half-hour after midnight yesterday.

That's when the Rainbow baseball team's flight from Los Angeles landed in Honolulu. That's when the focus switched to another team from Los Angeles — No. 24 Southern California — which comes here for a three-game series at Les Murakami Stadium starting Friday.

"I told them to enjoy this (sweep of LMU)," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "But once that plane touched down, they had to forget about it and start thinking about this weekend."

For Trapasso, it's about his players keeping an even keel. Don't get too high after success, don't dwell on failure.

The celebration might have ended for the Rainbows, but that didn't stop the Western Athletic Conference from tooting UH's horn. Robbie Wilder and Stephen Wright were named the conference's Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for their performances last week.

Wilder, a senior outfielder, was 10 for 17, scored 11 runs, walked four times, stole two bases, doubled and tripled. He had 4-for-5 games against Hawai'i Pacific and LMU. The recognition is special because Wilder had been hampered by an assortment of injuries the past two seasons.

"He's getting great at-bats," Trapasso said. "He's been working the counts, doing what a lead-off hitter is supposed to do. He's not only getting on base, but he's coming around to score. I couldn't be happier for anybody on our club because of all the work he's put in and all the years with the injuries."

Wilder boosted his batting average to .417 and increased his runs to a team-leading 15.

As for Wright, the only way he wasn't going to get the award was if another WAC pitcher tossed a no-hitter. The junior right-hander improved to 2-0 with his complete-game, one-hitter in Friday's 3-1 win against LMU. He struck out a career-high 10 and walked none. He lowered his ERA to 1.17.

It was the first WAC weekly award for both players.

Meanwhile, the Trojans (7-4) will be UH's first nationally ranked opponent of the season. They are coming off an 8-3 win against No. 15 San Diego on Sunday to win their own Public Storage Baseball Classic at Dedeaux Field.

USC has one of the best pitchers in the country in junior right-hander Ian Kennedy, who was named National Pitcher of the Week by The Rosenblatt Report. Kennedy (2-1, 1.25) was one out away from a no-hitter in a 10-1 win against Kansas on Friday. The run he allowed was unearned. He had 13 strikeouts and three walks in 8 2/3 innings.

Kennedy, a projected first-round draft pick who is ranked fifth in Baseball America's Top 100 college prospects, is expected to pitch Friday against Wright, who is ranked 82nd.

The Trojans have two other players ranked among the top 100. Outfielders Cyle Hankerd (65th), who is batting .522 with three home runs and 19 RBIs, and Daniel Perales (96th), who is hitting .393.

As for the Rainbows, they aren't sure of the status of left-hander Mark Rodrigues, who left Sunday's game after four innings because of tightness in his arm.

"We'll find out (today)," Trapasso said.

First baseman Kris Sanchez, hampered with a hamstring injury after the second game of the season, could be ready to play fulltime this weekend. Also, outfielder Matt Inouye (back) has shown improvement, but his status won't be known until later this week.

Although UH has been without the two, it hasn't missed a beat offensively.

Luis Avila leads the Rainbows with five doubles and 11 RBIs and is batting .394 in place of Sanchez.

Wilder and Derek DuPree were alternating earlier until Inouye's injury gave both time together in the outfield. DuPree is hitting .289.

At this time last year, UH was 7-4 and averaging 5.6 runs per game. All last season, the Rainbows had seven games in which they scored in double digits. They have done that four times already this season and average 6.7 runs per game.

The series against USC is just the beginning of a hectic week for the Rainbows. Next Tuesday is the start of the Rainbow Tournament, which will feature Washington, Arkansas and Texas-Arlington.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.