UH couldn’t give us Liberty, so it gave us No. 6 NC State

After losing Liberty, the University of Hawaii baseball team is in pursuit of happiness when it opens its season against nationally ranked North Carolina State tonight at Murakami Stadium.

The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

The Rainbow Warriors initially had an agreement to play Liberty, a Virginia-based private school, but that deal dissolved following a coaching change.

“We were in a little bit of a scramble mode,” said Mike Trapasso, noting negotiations also broke when a potential replacement sought an appearance fee in excess of $30,000 — double the ’Bows’ usual payout.

Trapasso then turned to North Carolina State coach Elliott Avent, who also was seeking a season-opening replacement. Trapasso and Avent were coaches and roommates on the 2004 USA team that played on the East Coast and in Japan and Taiwan.

“He’s a close friend, a good man,” Trapasso said of the winningest coach in NC State baseball history.

Avent said Trapasso “has a good sense of humor. He’s a great guy. The bad news for him is I snore now.”

What is not news is the Wolfpack’s expected success. The ‘Pack are ranked between No. 6 (D1 Baseball) and No. 14 (Perfect Game). The Pack have six returning starting position players, including second baseman Evan Mendoza (.362 in 2016), and outfielder Brock Deatherage(.317 and 14 steals). Third baseman Joe Dunand, whose uncle is Alex Rodriguez, was one of 55 players on the preseason-watch list for the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award.

The pitching staff has two velocities: fast and faster. Left-handers Sean Adler, a USC transfer who starts tonight, and Cody Beckman can hit 90-plus mph on the speed laser. Tommy DeJuneas is confident with a mid-90s fastball, change-up and slider. Freshman Dalton Feeney, who initially committed to Missouri, can reach 97 mph.

“You have to play well every day,” Avent said. “That’s the way college baseball is right now anyway. Everybody is good. You have to come in day in and day out and play as well as you can.”

Trapasso said he considered easing into the schedule, but then — what the heck? — decided to open once again with a challenging opponent.

“I can’t learn from my mistakes, I guess,” Trapasso said, smiling. “We’re not apologizing for how we do (the scheduling). It’s something we take pride in, honestly, maybe to my detriment. I think our fans appreciate that. I know our players love the idea of of playing great teams right out of the gate and all year long in nonconference. It’s what we do. We could win a lot scheduling 26 games against cupcakes, but what does that do? I don’t believe in that. If it means we lose a bunch of games more than if we played cream puffs, so be it. It prepares us for this conference we’re in.”

There are 18 first-year ’Bows on the roster. Two-thirds of the 2016 starting rotation and both closers have completed their UH eligibility. Of this opening series, Trapasso said: “We’re focusing on the process. I know we’ll compete. I know we’ll play with toughness and energy. That’s our group. I want to see us execute, play the game well, play the game the right way, make the routine play, throw strikes, put the ball in play and compete.”