Tonight’s baseball opener between Air Force and Hawaii could have been arranged through Tinder.

They know each other’s profile and track record. But both have undergone enough changes to bring some mystery to the four-game series at Les Murakami Stadium.

“Do we have information about the Rainbows? Of course,” Air Force coach Mike Kazlausky said. “Do the Rainbows have information about Air Force? Of course, they do. Does it mean anything? No. That’s last year’s. It’s definitely a blind date.”

The opener’s starting pitchers are in new roles. Air Force’s Tyler Mortenson, who made one start in his 16 appearances last season, has moved from closer to ace. At 6 feet 6 and 205, Mortenson “is a rail,” according to Kazlausky. But the skinny is he has command of three pitches (fastball, curve and splitter) that he throws for strikes and strikeouts (average of 10.4 over nine innings).

Hawaii’s Jackson Rees has ascended from the back of the rotation to the front. “He’s a guy who makes adjustments on the fly,” UH coach Mike Trapasso said of Rees. “That’s what I like about him. He’s a guy who has good feel. Not everybody can make adjustments he’s made.”

In fall training, the right-handed Rees altered his motion from over-the-top to three-quarter. The intent was to lower his walks; the result was that a fastball that used to cut now tails and sinks. He upped his velocity to 91 mph. Rees also worked on his change-up and split. The Falcons graduated five position players from a lineup that led the nation in hitting (.344). But Kazlausky, an Air Force graduate who piloted $330 million C-17s during his 20-year military career, has instilled an aggressive mind-set.

“Everyone is different, but they do have the same mentality, and that mentality’s one word: attack,” Kazlausky said. “You’ll hear me yelling it from the dang dugout: ‘Attack! Attack!’ That’s how I want the kids, not only offensively their philosophy to be, I want that in all facets of their life. Whether we’re going to pitch, we’re going to play the game fast. We’re going to run the bases aggressively. We’re going to attack the game. Offensively, I want our kids to swing the darn bat. They’re not going to sit around and wait for darn walks. If the Rainbows are going to throw the ball close to the plate, we’re going to swing at it.”

The ’Bows have embraced Trapasso’s pound-the-zone approach to pitching. Last season, the ’Bows led the NCAA in fewest walks per nine innings (2.25).

Trapasso also is a believer that opponents’ lead-off walks and errors lead to bad things. Trapasso rearranged the middle infield as a counter strategy. Dustin Demeter moved from short to second, where his strong arm and quick feet are helpful in turning double plays. Maaki Yamasaki, who redshirted after transferring from the University of Tokyo last year, is now the starting shortstop.

“You’ve got someone who is just a vacuum at shortstop,” said Ethan Lopez, who has relocated from the outfield to third. Lopez said he played third from Little League through his UH freshman season. “It’s like riding a bike,” he said. Both teams also have weathered some circumstances. Kazlausky said the misconception of Colorado Springs’ winter weather is “you’re doing push-ups in the snow.” But Kazlausky noted the majority of the Falcons’ practices have been outdoors. They also worked out in Albuquerque last weekend when the mercury dropped on campus.

The ’Bows received good news when outfielder Adam Fogel, one of their top middle-of-the-order hitters, was cleared to play this weekend. A week ago, Fogel appeared to hurt his left thumb during practice. He did not play in Saturday’s game against the alumni.

”He’s good to go,” Trapasso said. “We’re grateful he’s out there on opening day. He’s a big part of our lineup.”