The official 2016 Hawaii baseball schedule released Thursday has a much different look.

The Rainbow Warriors will open the season away from home for the first time since 1994 when they renew an old rivalry against Hawaii-Hilo on Feb. 13.

The teams will play games at UH-Hilo on Saturday and Sunday a week prior to the official start date for the college baseball season.

An exemption allows Hawaii to start its season early against the Vulcans in games that will count toward the overall 56-game limit.

"We’ve had a hard time since the NCAA condensed the schedule to get our full 56 games in because we can’t play midweek games," Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. "We have this Hawaii exemption where we can play before the mandatory start date, but the problem the way the rules are set up is we can’t play anybody from the mainland. They can’t come out here because it doesn’t account for them."

That leaves the Vulcans, who Hawaii hasn’t played since 2008.

Instead of playing on Oahu, Trapasso decided to schedule the games in Hilo for a variety of reasons.

"We have such a great relationship with the Big Island both in recruiting and with some of our great supporters," Trapasso said. "We don’t get a chance to play on the neighbor islands, and so to do it and get out on the road and get used to traveling is something I’m excited about."

Recent Rainbows from the Big Island include St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong; left-hander Quintin Torres-Costa, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in June; and current ‘Bows Chayce Ka’aua and JJ Kitaoka.

Hawaii opened with Oregon in each of the past five seasons but won’t play the Ducks for the first time since 2008.

The home opener is Feb. 19 in the first of a four-game series against New Mexico before UH hits the road to play at San Francisco.

Hawaii will then host West Virginia, Michigan, Chicago State and Santa Clara for four-game series before opening Big West play hosting UC Irvine.

UH will end the season with a three-game home nonconference series against Arizona and also has a single game at Loyola Marymount.

The Wolverines are the only nonconference opponent to reach the NCAA tournament last season, finishing 39-25 overall.

The Lobos (32-27) and the Wildcats (31-24) are the other two teams to finish with winning records.

Hawaii is coming off a 21-32 season in which it went 12-12 in Big West play. UH hasn’t had a winning season since going 30-25 in its last year in the Western Athletic Conference in 2012.

Also different in 2016 will be the dugout UH uses for home games. Trapasso said the team will move to the third-base dugout after spending the past 13 seasons on the first-base side.

"It’s not ideal because I’ve never liked the way the sun is always in your face in the third-base dugout, but it’s a move necessitated by our locker room situation," Trapasso said. "The locker room on the first-base side has just become untenable.

"We’re in the process of fundraising the third-base sideline and putting in a clubhouse. As beautiful as our stadium is, everything we’ve done over the years has been about the fan experience, but the bowels of the stadium are falling into disrepair and we really need to get to work on the things the fans can’t see, but the things the players and recruits need."

UH hosts the Anteaters, Cal Poly, Long Beach State and UC Riverside in conference play and travels to UC Davis, Cal State Northridge, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton.

The 2016 season will be Trapasso’s 15th at UH.