Hawai'i Pacific gets an early test, opening its season against perennial NCAA Division II power Chico State with a six-game series starting Thursday at Central O'ahu Regional Park.

The Wildcats, ranked third in Collegiate Baseball newspaper's preseason poll, are coming off a 46-21 season in which they lost to Tampa, 3-2, in the national title game.

"They didn't lose that much players," HPU coach Garett Yukumoto said. "Basically, it's the same team coming back."

Last season, the Sea Warriors finished 24-20, winning 2 of 6 from the Wildcats, who have one player from here in Moanalua graduate Lorin Nakagawa.

The Sea Warriors are young, as there are only six seniors on the 31-player roster.

"We have a little more depth," Yukumoto said. "That helps us move around players if we have to. We just have to find the right chemistry to see what wins ball games for us."

What will help HPU are two Division I transfers in pitcher Kaimi Mead and outfielder Mark Veneri. Mead transferred from College of San Mateo JC after one season with Hawai'i-Manoa in 2004, while Veneri transferred from UH-Hilo after two seasons there.

"We're very fortunate they want to be a part of our program," Yukumoto said. "Coming back to the Division II level, they'll be giving experience to our young guys. That guidance is always well-taken and appreciated."

On the mound, the Sea Warriors are looking for big things from sophomore right-hander Kevin Matsumoto, who was 2-3 with a 3.49 earned run average last season. He had three complete games among his eight starts. His 49 innings were the second-highest on the team.

He will be joined by Mead and Brandon Muser (5-3, 4.87), both left-handers, and right-handers Kyle Moloney and Jason Shimizu.

Senior Andrew Sramek will catch with freshman Tripper Chung, who also will see some duty at first base.

The infield has some flexibility with Veneri and Spencer Omalza seeing time at first, sophomore Johnny Gentry at second, JC transfer Zackary Parnell at shortstop and Danny Lee at third. Lee was among the team's top hitters last year, batting .318 with a team-leading 28 RBIs. Michael Kealoha is a utility player, who also did some pitching last year.

The outfield has Geoffrey Say in center, Colton Silva in right and Jonah Hobson in left. Hobson also can play some infield positions, Yukumoto said.

"Our lineup is not set," Yukumoto said. "We still have some key injuries and have to wait and see.

"All I ask for our team is to compete, do what needs to be done, get timely hitting, pitchers throw strikes. If we can do that, I think we can be successful."

NOTES

The Sea Warriors will play an alumni game, noon Feb. 17 at CORP. An alumni dinner will be held the night before at the Japanese Chamber of Commerce. For information on attending, call the HPU athletic office at 356-5214.

This season, HPU will play all of its home games at CORP. The Sea Warriors played at Hans L'Orange Park last season, but the facility is undergoing renovations.

Division I UH-Hilo will play HPU April 6 and 7 at CORP and the Sea Warriors visit Hilo for games April 20 and 21.

The Sea Warriors will make two trips to the Mainland. They will play at UC San Diego and at Sonoma State at the end of March and will travel to Arizona to play Grand Canyon.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.