When a team puts up a 1.00 earned run average in a three-game series, it's hard to single out one strong outing.

But Hawai'i senior Mark Rodrigues did what was necessary to win this weekend: He put up zeros in a series of pitchers' duels against Arizona, which won 2 of 3 and moved from No. 24 to No. 21 in Collegiate Baseball's national rankings.

The left-hander from Koloa, Kaua'i was rewarded by being named Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week, his first of the season. It is the third pitcher award for the staff; Ian Harrington has two.

Rodrigues (5-1) pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, striking out four in the 4-0 victory.

All of UH's starting pitchers pitched well enough to win on most weekends. It's unlikely the Rainbows will face a staff like the Wildcats, who posted a 2.08 ERA in the series. Rodrigues out-pitched UA's Brad Mills, who returned for his senior year despite being picked in the 22nd round in June by Toronto. He is ranked 81st in Baseball America's top 100 college draft prospects list.

"They do a great job," UA coach Andy Lopez said after Sunday's game of UH's pitchers. "They don't walk anybody, they make great pitches."

The UA-UH series had a turnstile count of 5,687, by far the largest series turnout of the season. The season-opening series with Santa Clara is second at 4,014.

NEXT UP

The Rainbows face their second winless team in three weeks when Wisconsin-Milwaukee comes for a four-game series running Friday through Sunday. Saturday has a doubleheader. This is the first-ever meeting between the programs.

The Panthers (0-9) were picked to finish third in the six-team Horizon League in a vote of league's coaches. They arrive here on a 10-game losing streak spanning to last year's season-ending loss in the league's tournament, eventually won by Wright State, which was eliminated by UH in the Corvallis (Ore.) Regional. Their first six losses this year were in three-game sweeps by nationally ranked Arkansas and Kentucky. Over the weekend, they were swept in three by Austin Peay.

Chicago State arrived here 0-6 and left the state a combined 0-9, getting swept in five by the Rainbows and four at UH-Hilo.

However, unlike the independent Cougars, the Panthers have a better history. They were 32-25 last season, finishing second in conference play. They are 211-173 in the past seven years. They made the regionals in 2001, when they were 39-18. In fact, the Panthers were Horizon regular-season league champions in 2000 and 2001.

Another common element the Panthers share with the Cougars is that all of UWM's games have been on the road, obviously because of the climate. The Panthers also play the Cougars in several weeks.

The Panthers are coached by Scott Doffek, a first-year coach taking over for former big league pitcher Jerry Augustine, who resigned after 12 seasons.

In a preseason prospectus, the top players for the Panthers listed were outfielder Ross McCoy, who batted .316 last year, but is struggling at .176, and outfielder Rob Brockel, who is batting .294.

VULCANS UPDATE

Meanwhile, it is UH-Hilo's turn to host Arizona with single games at 6 tonight and 1 p.m. tomorrow at Wong Stadium.

The Vulcans (5-16) are coming off a four-game sweep of Chicago State, while the Wildcats (15-6) won 2 of 3 from the Rainbows over the weekend.

Michael Higa (.328) and Robby Mowers (.279) are tied for the team lead with 17 RBIs each. David Chu (.275) leads the team with two home runs. Freshman outfielder Ronel Trias (.304) leads the team with six steals (in six tries). His sister is Jasmine Trias.

Right-hander Lars Knepper (1-3) continues to fan batters with 43 against eight walks in 34 innings. Even Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson said he was impressed with Knepper, who gave up five runs in seven innings with eight strikeouts against the Shockers in an 11-4 loss.

HPU UPDATE

Hawai'i Pacific (7-9) won 4 of 7 against Grand Canyon last week. The Sea Warriors return to action Friday against Southern Connecticut State. They are scheduled to play five doubleheaders through March 22 at Central O'ahu Regional Park, field No. 4.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.