The weather outside was frightful, but the University of Hawaii baseball players were having a delightful time playing in the Minnesota snow.

“They were out there having fun,” said coach Mike Trapasso, who cautioned, “if we get them in a snowball fight, we’d better get them with the trainer to warm up properly first.”

The Rainbow Warriors are experiencing another type of snowball effect entering today’s stand-alone game against Minnesota. First baseman Eric Ramirez has a deep contusion on his left knee, and outfielders Marcus Doi and Adam Fogel have hamstring issues. Their availability is questionable for today’s game and the ensuing Dairy Queen Baseball Classic. Trapasso said catcher Kekai Rios was diagnosed with strep throat on Monday and did not accompany teammates on the initial travel to Minnesota. Trapasso said he hopes a cycle of antibiotics will allow Rios to travel and play in the weekend tournament.

“We’re going in with possibly four starters not in the lineup,” Trapasso said.

Rios is considered to be the ’Bows’ best defensive catcher. He would be helpful when Brendan Hornung pitches against Iowa on Friday. Hornung’s out pitch is a split-fingered fastball that often hits the dirt and “can go in any direction,” Trapasso said. “It’s a pretty nasty pitch.”

Tyler Murray will start at catcher today. “He’s not Kekai, but he’s solid,” Trapasso said.

Trapasso changed the pitching rotation. Dominic DeMiero will start today instead of Hornung, who usually is the front-end pitcher. Trapasso said the move was made because the Gophers often start as many as seven left-hitting players.

“We’re going with Dom because he’s left-handed,” Trapasso said. “Nothing more than that. Left on left is always preferable. Left-handed hitters could be good hitters, but they don’t always hit as well against left-handed pitching as they would against right-handed pitching.”

DeMiero actually is more effective against right-handed batters (.150) than lefties (.263) in his first two starts this season. The Gophers are hitting .339.

Tyler Hanson (1-0, 4.26 earned-run average) will start for the Gophers. Hanson can throw a 92-mph fastball, slider and sinker.

“They’re very good offensively,” Trapasso said. “We’re going to have to pitch well and try to hold them down to two or three runs. But that means we’ve got to score three or four (runs), which we haven’t done recently.”

The ’Bows are batting .202 and averaging 2.43 runs per game.