It has played in new territory, in poor weather conditions and against opponents figuring to be among the 64 in 16 regionals in June.

Battle-tested Hawai'i (16-9) will put that preparation to work when it begins Western Athletic Conference play this weekend against San Jose State. The four-game series runs Friday through Sunday at Les Murakami Stadium. Game times are 6:35 p.m. Friday, 3:05 p.m. for Saturday's doubheader and 1:05 p.m. Sunday.

Unlike last year, WAC teams play each other one-time around, either at home or on the road, in four-game series for a 24-game schedule. If doubleheaders are involved, the first game is nine innings with the second game scheduled for seven. In some case, series will spread over four days, such as when Louisiana Tech visits here April 30 to May 3.

The top six teams qualify for the WAC tournament, which will be held here. The tournament champion gets an automatic NCAA regional berth.

This year, the WAC has the distinction of having the defending College World Series champion among its membership in Fresno State. The Bulldogs were preseason favorites by the conference's coaches, as well as by Baseball America's preview, to repeat as WAC champions.

Despite taking 3 of 4 from then nationally ranked Coastal Carolina over the weekend, only rivals.com has ranked UH (24th) among the services that do rankings. Hawai'i's unofficial ratings percentage index (as per Boyd's World's Web site) is eighth.

The following are capsules of UH's WAC opponents.

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

UH WAC OPPONENTS' CAPSULES

SAN JOSE STATE

April 3 to 5 at Les Murakami Stadium.

COACH: Sam Piraro, 22nd season.

RECORD: 19-5.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: CF Jason Martin (.356, 3 HR, 18 RBI .495 OBP), SS Kyle Bellows (.380), 1B Danny Stienstra (.353 .461 OBP), DH Karson Klauer (.291), Craig Hertler (.377, .513 OBP). LHP David Berner (5-0, 2.25, 47 K, 8 W in 48 IP), RHP Scott Sobczak (5-0, 1.45, 23 K, 7 W in 31 IP), LHP Max Peterson (5-0, 2.70, 36 K 14 W in 40 IP), RHP Anthony Vega (0-2, 6.43, 6 SV).

NOTES: As usual, the Spartans are fundamentally sound. They lead WAC teams in fielding percentage (.981) and are second in sacrifices (20). They also lead in team ERA at 3.62. Moreover, they're hitting .346 and average 8.75 runs per game. Piraro recently reached the 700-win career milestone.

TRAP SAYS: "This year in particular they're really swinging the bats well. That is a lethal combination. They're really swinging well to go along with their normal very good pitching and defense."

NEVADA WOLF PACK

April 9 to 11 at Peccole Park, Reno, Nev.

COACH: Gary Powers, 27th season.

RECORD: 11-14.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: 1B Shaun Kort (.264, 1 HR, 16 RBI), OF Nick Melino (.338, .449 OBP), DH Brock Stassi (.347, 2 HR, 13 RBI, .424 OBP), OF Brett Hart (.286), SS Kevin Rodland (.262, 1 HR, 11 RBI), OF Matt Bowman (.207, 4 HR, 7 RBI). LHP Brock Stassi (3-3, 3.09, 24 K, 11 W in 35 IP), RHP Derek Achelpohl (1-3, 4.43, 21 K, 8 W in 22 1/3 IP), LHP Chris Garcia (1-3, 5.08, 17 K, 23 W in 33 2/3 IP), RHP Stephen Bautista (0-1, 7.63, 10 K, 15 W in 15 1/3 IP). RHP Sammy Miller (3-1, 2.93, 3 SV).

NOTES: Like UH, Nevada has played a tough schedule, though not reflected in its 160 RPI (courtesy Boyd's Nation). The Wolf Pack lost 2 of 3 at UC Irvine and lost at San Diego State to Stephen Strasburg (16 Ks in 6 2/3 IP).

TRAP SAYS: "They're always good at home, no matter what kind of year they're having. It's a very tough place to go and play. They started off slow because they weren't throwing strikes. But we've seen their walks go down significantly. We've seen their bats get hot. Nevada always gets going midway through the season because once the weather warms up and they start playing more games at home, that's when they take off."

SACRAMENTO STATE HORNETS

April 17 to 19 at Les Murakami Stadium.

COACH: John Smith, 30th season.

RECORD: 16-9.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: 2B Hunter Martinez (.407, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 13 of 15 SB), CF Tim Wheeler (.407, 8 HR, 36 RBI, .522 OBP, 11 of 13 SB), 1B Blake Crosby (.402, 2 HR, 26 RBI), 3B Josh Powers (.327, 2 HR, 19 RBI), SS Derek Chung (.298, 2 HR, 18 RBI), C Brent Hottman (.297, 3 HR, 7 RBI), INF Justin Lamb (.233, 6 HR, 20 RBI). RHP Brandon Sandoval (3-2, 2.33, 28 K, 11 W in 38 2/3 IP), RHP Jesse Darrah (4-2, 5.50, 33 K 11 W in 36 IP).

NOTES: The Hornets swept a four-game series in Sacramento last year to start the WAC season. Wheeler figures to be a high draft pick.

TRAP SAYS: "(Wheeler) could be the conference player of the year. They're a very good offensive club. They lost a lot of that offense, but just having Wheeler back, having Crosby back at shortstop, those are two of their best players from last year. They've won some games against some pretty good competition. You don't take John Smith's teams lightly. You look at us when we went to Sacramento State last year."

NEW MEXICO STATE AGGIES

April 24 to 26 at Presley Askew Field, Las Cruces, N.M.

COACH: Rocky Ward, 12th season.

RECORD: 25-3.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: 2B Mike Sodders (.424, 7 HR, 34 RBI, .522 OBP), C Jeffrey Farnham (.418, 6 HR, 37 RBI, .554 OBP, 13 of 14 SB), 3B Wade Reynoso (.400, 5 HR, 36 RBI, .508 OBP), RF Nate Shaver (.394, 5 HR, 33 RBI, .517 OBP), CF Richard Stout (.387, .568 OBP, 16 of 18 SB), SS Bryan Marquez (.371, 13 HR, 44 RBI, .513 OBP), 1B Ben Harty (.302, 8 HR, 37 RBI), OF Leo Aguirre (.448, 5 HR, 28 RBI, .542 OBP). RHP Sebastien Vendette (4-0, 3.09, 24 K, 18 W in 43 2/3 IP), RHP Daniel Simon (5-0, 3.18, 31 K, 12 W in 34 IP), RHP Tyler Sturdevant (3-2, 5.45, 32 K, 18 W in 36 1/3 IP), RHP Erik Nyquist (2-0, 6.97, 3 SV).

NOTES: The Aggies are the only nationally ranked team in the WAC (24th by Collegiate Baseball). (OK, rivals.com has UH at 24, but we're looking at long-standing polls.) Their RPI is 115, third among WAC teams behind UH's 8 and San Jose State's 99.

TRAP SAYS: "You can say anything you want about the competition level they're playing, but that doesn't matter to me. It's about winning and they're winning the games they're supposed to be winning. They've got a mindset that breeds confidence and they're playing with confidence. There's no tougher place to play in our league than in Las Cruces. They look to have the best team they've had since we started playing them."

LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS

April 30 to May 3 at Les Murakami Stadium.

COACH: Wade Simoneaux, seventh season.

RECORD: 12-9.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: 2B Kevin Winn (.425, 3 HR, 28 RBI, .495 OBP), LF Patrick Thomas (.400, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 6 of 6 SB), RF Devon Dageford (.338, 7 HR, 29 RBI, .407 OBP, 6 of 7 SB), 3B Chris Kersten (.310, 7 HR, 26 RBI, .408 OBP), INF Nick Grunewald (.308, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 11 of 14 SB), 1B Alex Williams (.299, 2 HR, 14 RBI), CF Clint Stubbs (.313, 10 of 11 SB). RHP Dylan Moseley (3-2, 4.08, 20 K, 9 W in 35 1/3 IP), RHP John Anderson (3-2, 4.81, 26 K, 4 W in 24 1/3 IP), RHP Jeb Stefan (2-2, 7.14 24 K, 17 W in 29 IP).

NOTES: Who makes these schedules? The WAC tournament is here and LaTech travels here for the regular season. Last year, the tournament was in Ruston and UH had to travel there for the regular season, too. Unfortunately for LaTech, it did not qualify for the tournament it was hosting.

TRAP SAYS: "You'll always find Wade's teams to play with a lot of emotion. The last couple of years, talent-wise, (his teams) have been as good as anyone in the league."

FRESNO STATE BULLDOGS

May 7 to 9 at Beiden Field, Fresno, Calif.

COACH: Mike Batesole, 15th season, 7th at FSU.

RECORD: 13-10.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: SS Danny Muno (.372, 1 HR, 17 RBI, .505 OBP, 6 of 7 SB), 1B Alan Ahmady (.354, .488 OBP), 3B Tom Mendonca (.333, 11 HR, 30 RBI, .453 OBP), 2B Gavin Hedstrom (.278, 3 HR, 15 RBI). RHP Jake Floethe (3-1, 2.65, 29 K, 12 in 37 1/3 IP), RHP Holden Sprague (2-0, 2.93, 25 K, 7 W in 43 IP).

NOTES: Three-time defending conference champions have been swept in a four-game series at Loyola Marymount after UH just swept four from the Lions. They also lost 2 of 3 from Oregon, which UH beat once.

TRAP SAYS: "They have spots early in the season where they've struggled, but they are the best second-half team in our league and have been for years. I don't expect anything to be different this year because they have so many players back from last year's national championshp team. They understand when they start WAC play, it's time to turn it up."