Appropriately, two of the hottest teams in the Western Athletic Conference begin league play against each other.

Hawai'i will meet Nevada for a three-game series starting tonight at Les Murakami Stadium. Each team enters the series with four-game win streaks, the longest among the seven conference teams.

"They've been playing real well of late," UH coach Mike Trapasso said of the Wolf Pack (14-12).

Nevada swept a three-game series from Utah Valley State over the weekend and then beat St. Mary's on Tuesday. The Rainbows (19-8) are coming off a four-game series sweep of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The series could not get off to a better start with UH left-hander Ian Harrington (4-4, 3.23 ERA) facing UN right-hander Ryan Rodriguez (3-3, 2.52). Both seniors are living up to expectations after being selected by the league's coaches for the preseason All-WAC team, with Harrington picked as the Pitcher of the Year.

The Rainbows were 3-1 against the Wolf Pack last season, with the loss coming against Rodriguez in the second game of the WAC tournament. Rodriguez went 6 2/3 innings, giving up three runs, eight hits and five walks with eight strikeouts.

While the five walks were uncharacteristically high, Rodriguez has historically been and still is a control pitcher (15 walks in 53 2/3 innings). Nevada coach Gary Powers said Rodriguez passed on summer ball and used the time to develop a changeup. Powers credited pitching coach Stan Stolte with teaching Rodriguez the pitch.

"He added a third pitch to his repertoire," Powers said. "He was pretty much a two-pitch guy. He worked real, real hard in the summer and in the fall on his changeup and it's been a really big help to him."

Rodriguez is the reigning WAC Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete game in an 11-0 win against Utah Valley State.

Right-handers Rod Scurry (0-4, 7.55) and Kyle Howe (1-2, 4.07) are scheduled to start tomorrow and Sunday, respectively, for Nevada. Scurry, who is 6 feet 7 and 210 pounds, is the son of former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Rod Scurry.

Offensively, the Wolf Pack suffered a significant blow with the loss of third baseman Matt Bowman, the team's leading hitter last season at .376. Bowman, who was second on the team with eight home runs and third with 40 RBIs in 2006, tore a pectoral muscle during the second week of the season.

But it isn't as if Nevada is at a loss for hitters. Freshman first baseman Shaun Kort is batting .366 with 20 RBIs. Catcher Konrad Schmidt leads the club with six home runs and 26 RBIs while batting .350.

"Shaun's helped us offensively," Powers said. "He's done a nice job for us. He's not an overpowering kind of guy. He's just a good contact hitter and an aggressive hitter."

Preseason All-WAC designated hitter Terry Walsh is batting .302 and his two home runs are second-most on the team.

The Wolf Pack were picked to finish fourth in the conference with UH chosen to share first with Fresno State in a preseason conference coaches' poll. Powers is optimistic.

"It's such a new team that it took us a while to set our mind on who could do what," he said. "I think in the last couple weeks, we've tried to establish significant roles for people so they can get comfortable in what they're doing. We just hope we can put it together for conference now."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.