All University of Hawaii third baseman Josh Rojas needed was a good kick start.

Mired in offensive mediocrity for a baseball season and seven games, Rojas went back to the discipline he learned facing his father’s fastballs and knee-wobbling changeup pitches in Arizona batting cages.

“It was a matter of finding that rhythm,” said Rojas, who fine-tuned his swing and pitch selection the past eight games to emerge as one of the Rainbow Warriors’ best hitters entering today’s opener of a four-game series against Indiana. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium.

Beginning with a road trip to Minnesota two weeks ago, Rojas has hit .455.

“At the beginning of the season, I was swinging at pitches out of the zone because I was a little too aggressive,” Rojas said. “I was overcompensating. It’s really timing. It’s being on time for every pitch. Sometimes you don’t really know if you’re on time until you go to swing. I think that’s what the feeling-out process is. It was a matter of finding the rhythm that would allow me to see pitches better.”

In going back to basics, the lefty-hitting Rojas focused on his right — front — foot. Partly influenced by watching major leaguer Ichiro Suzuki, partly from trial-and-error, Rojas developed a leg kick when he batted. “My front leg comes up a little bit,” a stance that sets in motion momentum to attack pitches, Rojas said.

“I’ve been doing it since I was a little kid, so it’s something that’s become second nature,” Rojas said of the leg kick. The key is to show restraint on pitches out of the strike zone.

“If the ball is not in the zone, the rhythm allows me to stop my swing,” Rojas said. “Then with two strikes, you have to change that because now you’re playing defense, whereas before you had your zone. It’s a lot of situational stuff.”

As Rojas has learned, situations are fluid. This season, UH coach Mike Trapasso has written 15 different batting orders in as many games. Rojas has batted anywhere from cleanup to ninth in the lineup.

In the first seven games, Rojas tried to pull pitches, hitting 68 percent of the balls to the right side. The past eight games, Rojas has gone with the pitch — 47.6 percent have been hit between the middle and left-field line — or not taken a swing at all. In 62 plate appearances this season, he has drawn 10 walks and been hit by pitches twice while striking out twice. In 2016, he struck out once every 6.74 at-bats.

“He’s finding a way to have quality productive at-bats against left-handed pitching, whether it’s moving a runner over or going deeper into a count with eight- or nine-pitch at-bats,” Trapasso said.

Rojas said he embraces challenges. In practices, the infielders will ask assistant coach Rusty McNamara to hit grounders to them.

“He’ll get 50 feet from you, and his goal is to hit one by you,” Rojas said. “It’s a lot of fun. I’m a very competitive guy. If a ball gets hit, I don’t want anything to get by me. I want to react as best as possible. It’s kind of a challenge between me and the hitter. It’s an ego thing. I don’t want any ball to get by me or else I think I got beat.”

Rojas said he developed his competitiveness from his father, who is 41 and still plays in baseball leagues. When Rojas goes back to the family home in Arizona, his father will challenge him to a game of backyard basketball.

“He’s still got that competitive edge,” Rojas said. “I’m sure my competitive edge won’t run out soon.”