If things had gone according to plan, Hawaii senior Nate Klein might be starting for Southern California this weekend.

Instead, the one-time Trojans pitcher will take the hill for the Rainbows on Saturday when UH (6-6) welcomes the third Pac-10 team this season to Les Murakami Stadium for the first of a four-game series tomorrow at 6:35 p.m.

Klein, a big-time recruit out of Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, Calif., grew up watching USC football and always wanted to play at Southern Cal. When the day came to sign, he hadn't heard from USC and committed to Pepperdine before a sudden phone call changed everything.

“;I had actually committed to Pepperdine the same night and had to turn them down 40 minutes later,”; Klein said. “;USC was always the place I wanted to go and pretty much the second they called me it was a done deal.”;

With things exactly the way he wanted, Klein was in the midst of preparing for his freshman season when he felt a pop in his elbow one December day.

Without thinking much of it, he went out the next afternoon to get some work in when he discovered he couldn't lift his elbow above his shoulder.

“;I thought it was just maybe a strain or tendinitis and then I found out I needed (Tommy John) surgery,”; he said. “;It was a huge letdown. I had never really missed a game before in my life.”;

Klein spent the next seven months on the shelf and didn't throw his first pitch in a game until 17 months later. He tossed all of one inning in a USC uniform before eventually deciding to transfer to Santa Barbara City College.

“;It was a real tough decision, but I talked a lot with coaches (at both schools) and my parents and I realized by transferring I would be able to get in a lot of innings which I needed since I hadn't pitched in two years,”; Klein said.

Klein spent one year at SBCC and seemed destined to play for coach Mike Gillespie, who recruited him to USC, at UC Irvine.

Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso quickly changed those plans on a recruiting trip to the West Coast in the spring of 2008, when he made his pitch to bring Klein to Hawaii after watching only one bullpen session.

“;His breaking ball was what really caught my eye,”; Trapasso said. “;He was a high-profile recruit in high school, obviously going to USC, and he was a guy where because of his injury, it allowed us to come in and get him.”;

Klein immediately jumped into UH's rotation last season and performed well, finishing 3-4 with a 5.10 ERA.

“;He was probably our most consistent pitcher last season,”; Trapasso said. “;He could have had a couple more wins if we had held leads but he was always going six, seven innings for us.”;

Klein (1-0, 5.60 ERA) earned the opening-night start against Oregon State to start his senior season. He'll pitch in Game 2 of a series for the first time this weekend, with junior Josh Slaats (1-0, 0.52) starting tomorrow.

Klein, who admits to “;having this date circled for a long time,”; is quick to point out there's no ill feelings toward his former team. It's just a matter of proving himself to the program that gave him his first shot out of high school.

“;I don't know how to say it, but it's not that I have any animosity toward them,”; Klein said. “;It's just an important start for me to prove that I have come back and prove that I belonged (at USC) when I was there.

“;My approach to the game isn't going to change, but it's something I've been thinking about for three years.”;