This offseason, Cal State Northridge installed lights at its on-campus baseball stadium.

The facility also has been renamed to Robert J. Hiegert Field.

One thing that has not changed is the impact of the jet streams that ebb and flow in the 64-year-old stadium.

“It just depends on the day,” said UH coach Rich Hill, whose Rainbow Warriors begin a three-games series today against CSUN. “If the wind’s blowing out, it’s a band box. If the wind’s blowing in, it’s like Les Murakami Stadium. You never really know what you’re going to get.”

In 10 games at Hiegert, the average number of combined runs is 14.6. Last month, BYU hit four of their 10 home runs against Ryan Halamicek in the top of the first inning. “I’ve never seen that before,” CSUN coach Eddie Cornejo said.

Hill, who played at CSUN numerous times when he coached at Cal Lutheran and San Diego, is familiar with the effects of fickle winds. “I didn’t think we did a good job of adjusting at UC Riverside,” Hill said of losing two of three to the Highlanders. “I’ve seen teams not do a good job of adjusting when they come to the Les. We’re going to have to see what we’re going to deal with and go from there. We’re not a home run-hitting team, anyway, so it shouldn’t be a change.”

The ’Bows already have made contingency plans for the absence of two impactful players. Third baseman Elijah Ickes is expected to miss about six weeks because of an injury to his left hand. Xaige Lancaster and Kedren Kinzie are the immediate replacements.

Outfielder Jared Quandt suffered a subluxation to his left (non-throwing) shoulder on a slide to the plate on Monday. No surgery is required. Quandt is on the ’Bows’ 30-player travel roster. Draven Nushida, also an option at third base, will move to the outfield.

“Next man up,” Hill said. “Injuries happen to every team. Probably every team has gone through something like we are. When you make that roster, and you’ve got ‘Hawaii’ across your chest, it doesn’t matter. You’re expected to give your all, be great at the process and level 10 in your preparation. … If you’re a starter or a bench guy, a reliever or a starting pitcher, when it’s your time, it’s your time. … We’re not going to skip a beat. Those guys will be great.”

It will be homecoming for second baseman Shunsuke Sakaino, who leads the ’Bows with a .366 average. Sakaino transferred to UH in August after three seasons at CSUN. Cornejo praised Sakaino’s toughness (rebounding from an elbow injury two years ago), fielding and offensive skills.

“I always knew he’d be a phenomenal hitter playing at Hawaii,” Cornejo said of Sakaino’s ability to find gaps in the infield and “hit low line drives. That’s kind of his game.”

Cornejo is navigating the Matadors through a building mode. The Matadors (5-15, 2-7 in Big West) have had a challenging schedule, with BYU and Oklahoma in preconference games and UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine to start Big West play.

“We’ve got a lot of young ’uns,” Cornejo said. “It’s not unusual for us to start four or five freshmen in the lineup, which is quite stupid, actually, in today’s world, right? When everybody’s getting older, were getting younger.”

Kyle Panganiban, who starts at second or third, is hitting .289. Catcher Matthew Kurata is 5-for-10 the past four games after hitting .118 to start the season. Outfielder Jarren Sanderson also has played well recently after overcoming a wrist injury.

The Matadors’ starting rotation suffered a setback — weekend hurlers Jon Mocherman and Destin Allen-Fox are dealing with elbow issues. Mocherman is set to return either this weekend or next. Allen-Fox is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Halamicek was a walk-on who earned a spot in the rotation as a freshman last year. He has issued only 10 walks in 312⁄3 innings this season, although he has been tagged for 40 hits. “He’s minimized the baserunners better,” Cornejo said of Halamicek’s free passes. “But he gives up a lot of hits.”

In two seasons, Halamicek is averaging 10.8 hits per nine innings. Although he has a 7.67 ERA, when not counting the gale-induced conditions against BYU, his ERA is 5.89. “Take that game out of his statistics and he’s doing fairly well,” Cornejo said.