HONOLULU — For a Hawaii baseball team thirsty for a win, a mid-week game against crosstown neighbor Hawaii Pacific was just the remedy required.

The Rainbow Warriors swung freely for 15 hits and beat the Division II Sharks, 10-1, in a palate-cleanser before a two-week Big West road trip.

For the second time in four days, UH (16-10) wore its green, orange and white jerseys typically used for series finales. They lost in them, 12-5, against UC Irvine on Saturday, to complete the first series sweep for a Big West opponent over UH in the Rich Hill era.

“That’s the great thing about baseball: that word ‘tomorrow.’ I don’t know how those football guys do it, those NBA guys do it,” Hill said. “Baseball you can get right back out there. That’s why we wore these uniforms; we had to look them in the eye and get these ‘old schools’ back on the winning track.”

Hill went with a staff game, with nine pitchers throwing an inning apiece ahead of this weekend’s three-game conference series at UC Davis (14-12, 4-5). Opener Harrison Bodendorf (1-3) picked up his first win of the season.

Jake Tsukada shifted to the designated hitter role with Austin Machado out with an illness. Machado is expected to make the trip.

Tsukada responded with his second home run of the season, a solo shot to lead off the fifth, as part of a 3-for-5 day.

The Portland transfer out of Punahou School rounded the bases, tapped helmets with a teammate, looked into the stands and raised his helmet to his family, sitting in their usual spot in the mid-level upper level.

“I could hear my dad cheering for me. I could hear his voice in the crowd,” Tsukada said. “He’s always supported me my whole life. Just wanted to repay him with that.”

Leadoff hitter Jordan Donahue went 3-for-4 to raise his average to .398.

Jared Quandt hit an RBI triple on a hit-and-run in the second as part of a two-hit game, Kyson Donahue went 2-for-3 and Elijah Ickes was 2-for-3 at the bottom of the order.

HPU coach Dane Fujinaka said his team looked forward to the matchup of many local players familiar with each other. He tipped his cap to UH for its timely hitting.

The Sharks (19-16) scored their lone run of the night on a squeeze in the fourth. Skyler Agnew hit a one-out double down the line in right and Nicholas Jio followed with a single. Maryknoll School alumnus Noah Hata of Kaneohe put down the successful sacrifice bunt.

Chase Taylor and Kota Suzuki went 2-for-4 at the top of the Sharks' lineup for four of their team's seven hits. Jordan Otjen took the loss with four runs charged in 1 2/3 innings of work.

“I actually think we pitched all right,” Fujinaka said. “Offensively, we were one or two hits away from that being a competitive game through five innings, six innings. I don’t know how many guys we left on base, but it seemed like we couldn’t get a two-out knock to fall. But that’s baseball. Again, you gotta tip your cap to their pitchers. But I like the way we competed.”

Hill acknowledged that the game was an audition for some players to make the two-week travel roster. He said he liked the outing from pitcher Cory Ronan, who worked a clean second inning with a strikeout.

HPU was the second local D-II team UH faced this season. It will host Chaminade on April 16 and Hawaii Hilo on April 30.

“These teams are very scary,” Hill said. “(HPU has) got some athleticism. I really like their lineup 1 through 9. You never know about the pitching mid-week, who they’re saving et cetera, but it’s a very well-coached team. Super beneficial for us to play a quality team before an important Big West series.”

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.