These Western Athletic Conference doubleheaders have been the equalizer for Hawai'i the past month.

The Rainbows came out firing on all cylinders in an 8-4 win in the opener yesterday, but were cooled off in a 14-4 romp by Louisiana Tech in a second game that was called in the bottom of the seventh because of the 10-run differential mercy rule at J.C. Love Field in Ruston, La.

It means for the fourth consecutive WAC series, the Rainbows (21-23 overall, 13-10 WAC) will have to win the finale to avoid settling for a series split.

It's also a chance for the Bulldogs (17-24, 3-18) to win consecutive WAC games since they swept a doubleheader from San Jose State on March 22. They had lost 14 WAC games in a row until taking yesterday's second game. The seventh-place Bulldogs have to make up serious ground to qualify for the WAC tournament they are hosting next month. The top six teams make the tournament.

"We just didn't have the same fire we had in the first game," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "We had the effort, but we didn't have the intensity."

The Bulldogs showed off their power with seven home runs in the doubleheader, including hitting three consecutive in each game.

Because the Rainbows scored early and often in the opener, it pretty much negated the home runs by Clay Alexander, Jericho Jones and Albie Goulder.

UH could not overcome the three-run homer by Jones in Game 2 that rallied the Bulldogs from a 4-2 deficit entering the bottom of the fifth, nor the homers that followed by Goulder and Chris Kersten. For good measure, Kersten hit a grand slam in a seven-run seventh.

Matt Daly (5-2) will start today (8 a.m., HST) for UH.

UH 8, LA TECH 4

Nick Rhodes lasted just 3 1/3 innings, leaving after giving up the three consecutive homers that cut UH's lead to 6-3 with one out in the fourth.

Josh Schneider (3-2) gave up one run in the next 4 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and a walk with four strikeouts. After giving up a flare single and a walk to start the ninth, Daly came in. He retired the first two batters he faced, and had his seemingly obligatory walk, before striking out Alexander for his second save.

"Schneider was good," Trapasso said. "That's a good role for him."

Hawai'i scored five runs with two outs: Jeff Van Doornum had a two-run double in the first inning; Kevin Macdonald had an RBI double and Vinnie Catricala an RBI single in the third; and Brandon Haislet doubled in the sixth with the runner on first scoring on an error.

"We really swung the bats well," Trapasso said. "We had some great two-out rallies to get things going."

Catricala and Haislet each went 3 for 5. Catricala hit his fourth homer of the season.

LA TECH 14, UH 4

Alan Knotts (3-2) put a damper on UH's bats, allowing five hits and a walk, while striking out eight in going the distance of the shortened game. The four runs he allowed were unearned because of two errors in the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, Alex Bates (0-1) allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings, giving up five hits and a walk with six strikeouts. The four relievers who followed didn't fare any better, combining to give up nine more runs.