For Friday’s ceremonial first pitch, Hawaii football coach Nick Rolovich, in cleats and full baseball uniform, walked to the mound while “Wild Thing” blared from the Les Murakami Stadium speakers.

It proved to be inspiring for UH starting pitcher Jackson Rees, who made his slider sing in a 5-3 baseball victory over Cal State Northridge.

In 71⁄3 innings, Rees allowed four hits and two walks while matching his career high with eight strikeouts. By pitching into the eighth inning, Rees was able to save the middle relievers for the rest of this three-game Big West series.

Rees struggled to control his temperamental fastball and slider in his previous outing. But the junior, who added zip to his pitches when he switched from an over-the-top motion to a three-quarter delivery, regained his groove during a bullpen session on Wednesday.

Against CSUN, Jackson declared, “the slider was money today. That’s all it was.”

UH coach Mike Trapasso said: “It always starts with the guy on the mound, and Jackson was good. He found the slider, and that was the key. And his fastball had great life to it. He was able to throw enough of them for strikes.”

Rees exited in the eighth with one out and a 5-2 lead. Dylan Thomas relinquished a run-scoring double off the wall in right field, but worked his way for a five-out save, his 11th of the season.

“I felt good out there,” said Thomas, who also relies on a cutting slider. “I feel I had good control. But I kind of ran into the bat of that lefty (Riley Conlan), and he hit it off the wall. Those lefties have the advantage on that because the balls are running into the barrel.”

Trapasso, who doubles as the pitching coach, said he probably should have ordered Thomas to pitch a fastball away. But other than that, Trapasso praised Thomas’ grittiness in sealing the series opener.

Maaki Yamazaki and Kekai Rios each drove in two runs to boost the ’Bows to 22-15 overall and 8-5 in the Big West. The ’Bows and UC Irvine are tied for second, a game behind Big West leader Cal State Fullerton.

CSUN’s Walker Armstrong was unhittable through the first four innings, mystifying the ’Bows with his four-pitch repertoire.

But in the bottom of the fifth, designated hitter Logan Pouelsen drove Armstrong’s 62nd pitch into center field for the ’Bows’ first hit of the evening. Pouelsen played despite arm tenderness that prevented him from being available as a relief pitcher.

Alex Baeza drew a walk. Pouelsen and Baeza each advanced a base on Dylan Vchulek’s sacrifice.

Yamazaki then chopped a grounder past the a drawn-in infield to drive in Pouelsen and Baeza for a 2-0 UH lead.

“My first swing was too big,” Yamazaki said. “Coach (Trapasso) told me to get short. That was a curveball. I was able to contact it well, and it found a hole.”

Yamazaki went to second on Johnny Weeks’ single, then scored on Adam Fogel’s slump-busting single to left field. Fogel entered with three hits in his previous 34 at-bats.

The Matadors closed to 3-1 in the sixth. Albee Weiss singled and, one out later, advanced to second on Kevin Riley’s groundout. Conlan hit an 0-2 pitch into center field to score Weiss.

The ’Bows added two runs in the seventh to extend the lead to 5-1. Yamazaki singled up the middle, then stole second. It was the ’Bows’ first steal since March, and Yamazaki’s first of the season after being caught four previous times. Weeks and Fogel drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Rios then hit a grounder to the right side that eluded second baseman Brandon Bohning, scoring Yamazaki and Weeks.

The Matadors did not start catcher Trevor Casanova, who appeared to suffer an injury during pregame warmups. Casanova, who is hitting .372, was on the initial starting lineup. Freshman catcher Ben Martz, who entered with a .174 average, replaced Casanova. But Casanova was summoned as a pinch hitter in the ninth, and he singled.