Hawaii baseball coach Mike Trapasso had never started a newcomer on opening day until last season.

It worked out well for Tyler Brashears, who made the All-Big West first team with eight wins and a 1.86 ERA and was selected in the 14th round of last summer’s MLB draft.

The Rainbow Warriors are hoping history can repeat itself this season, as UH will again trot out a newcomer for the season opener.

Junior Brendan Hornung, a transfer from Chaffey Junior College in California, has earned the honor this season and will start the Feb. 13 game at UH Hilo as Hawaii opens on the road for the first time since 1994.

Hornung will get in his final tuneup today when he starts the annual alumni game at Les Murakami Stadium, beginning at 1.

“I didn’t have any real idea for the longest time actually, but I felt like I had been doing really well, and then the last week or so I finally got the word,” Hornung said.

It’s a tricky spot for a pitcher, especially one who hasn’t pitched in a Division I college game.

The alumni team is out there having a good time and it’s a relaxed atmosphere. But it’s also an important day for UH’s starter to get the necessary work in to be prepared for what lies ahead.

“It’s huge,” said Hornung, a 6-foot-3 right-hander. “It’s a day I extend the pitch count pretty much to what the season will be like. Just to get the feel of being on the mound in front of some fans for once is also big because it’s been a while since I’ve done that.”

Brashears was in the same spot last season and handled the environment flawlessly, pitching seven innings of two-hit ball while striking out five.

“It’s definitely going to be more of a fun atmosphere than a regular game. That’s just how it is,” said Brashears, who threw 1012⁄3 innings last season. “For me when you do throw a pitch, you’ve got to take it as serious as you can when you get that sign to throw because you have to throw every pitch with a purpose to help you get ready for the season.”

Of the six pitchers to start a game for UH last season, only senior Kyle Von Ruden is back.

Von Ruden, who started six games as a junior, was slotted as the No. 2 starter in UH’s rotation until back spasms caused him to miss over a week of spring practice.

He has a bullpen session Sunday, and if all goes well, he’ll likely start the Rainbow Warriors’ second game against the Vulcans.

Some of the alumni expected to play today include Jarrett Arakawa, Stephen Ventimilia and Kaeo Aliviado from last year’s team, who might all get to pitch at some point.

Brashears and L.J. Brewster, who were picked in last summer’s MLB draft and elected to sign, will both play, but likely in the field.

Brashears, who just started his throwing program in the past week and will report early next month, said there’s only one way he’d end up taking the mound.

“If we have a lead in the ninth inning, then I’ll pitch,” he said.

Josh Slaats, a fifth-round pick in the 2010 draft, will make his first appearance in the alumni game and will be joined by Harrison Kuroda and KHON weekend sports anchor Sam Spangler, who will both do pregame and postgame work for OC Sports on UH baseball broadcasts during the season.