Despite his recent struggles, Josh Slaats will finish conference play right where he started.

The junior right-hander, who at one point was among the nation's leaders in ERA, will be the opening-game starter in Hawaii's final Western Athletic Conference series against San Jose State tonight at Municipal Stadium in San Jose, Calif.

A four-time winner of the WAC pitcher of the week award this season, Slaats has seen his gaudy ERA numbers rise since the start of conference play.

He's 4-3 with a 3.36 ERA overall, but just 1-2 with a 7.36 ERA in five league starts.

After walking nine in 35 innings in nonconference play, Slaats has walked 15 in 22 WAC innings. He hasn't made it through the third inning in his last two WAC starts, but gets the opportunity to do so tonight as Hawaii can clinch a berth in the conference tournament as early as today with a win and a Sacramento State loss at Fresno.

“;I don't want to put the cart before the horse, because we haven't qualified for the tournament yet, but part of the focus is getting these guys lined up for the tournament and whomever starts (Friday) will have to come back and start Wednesday because of the short turnaround,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said.

Instead of the normal Thursday start in recent years, this season's WAC tournament begins on a Wednesday, giving a team's No. 1 starter one less day to prepare.

Slaats' status as Hawaii's No. 1 was up in the air after his third consecutive poor outing last week against New Mexico State. Following Sunday's finale, Trapasso said he was “;unsure what to do with him”; and gave Slaats a rare midweek start on Tuesday at Stanford.

He allowed one hit over two innings and faced the minimum six batters. Trapasso said Tuesday night he'd sleep on whether to start Slaats or Sam Spangler (3-6, 4.55) today, but decided to go with the guy who has been at the top most of the season.

Slaats will start opposite San Jose State's Blake Macfarland (6-3, 3.95 ERA), who leads the WAC in innings pitched and ranks in the top five in ERA, strikeouts and compete games.

“;I hope Slaats throws well and matches him because Macfarland throws well every time out,”; Trapasso said. “;He's a tall kid who throws the ball over the top, has good stuff, outstanding breaking stuff and can throw in the low 90s.”;

Spangler and Matt Sisto, who will start the doubleheader games tomorrow, are coming off two of their best performances of the season against New Mexico State.

Spangler struck out 13, tying the most under the Trapasso era at Hawaii, and allowed one earned run in 5 2/3 innings of a 7-3 win.

Sisto, who missed a start with a biceps injury earlier this year, did not allow an earned run in his second straight outing, pitching 5 2/3 innings of two-hit ball in a 2-1 victory. Sisto has a 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his last four starts, going 1-0 with a 2.15 ERA.

“;(Sisto) could definitely be our X-factor guy,”; Trapasso said. “;He's mixing all his pitches right now and could come up huge for us.”;

Pitching is why the Rainbows (26-24, 9-11) are a threat to make a run in the WAC tournament assuming they qualify for the five-day event beginning Wednesday in Mesa, Ariz.

Hawaii leads the conference with a 4.99 team ERA and its league-low 135 walks allowed is more than 50 free passes better than the next-best team, Sacramento State (193).

Any combination of one or two Hawaii wins and one or two Sacramento State losses gets the 'Bows into the tournament, which is the primary focus. How the seeding shapes up is a moot point for Trapasso.

“;If something were to happen where right away we found out first day that with a win by us and a Sacramento State loss and we're in, I'm not against the reality of cutting our guys a little bit short,”; Trapasso said. “;You've got to play everyone in the tournament to win it and everyone has got to pitch well. The key is winning Game 1 because if you don't win that then you've got a long road ahead of you.”;

Senior Nate Klein will not pitch this weekend, but Trapasso didn't rule him out for next week's WAC tournament. He hasn't pitched since suffering discomfort in his elbow against Nevada on May 1.