Players sophomore infielder Blake Cyr, freshman infielder Daniel Cuvet, and senior outfielder Lucas Costello were made available to the media Tuesday afternoon at Mark Light Stadium in Coral Gables.

Cyr, who, along with starting pitcher Gage Ziehl, was named to the Perfect Game preseason All-Conference Team, said this year's team bonds better than last year's team.

The sophomore mentioned that defense and hitting with two strikes were the main focuses for him in the offseason.

Cyr on advice he gives to younger players:

"Last year, I had YoYo Morales, who's a guy I really look up to, even to this day. I tell a lot of people YoYo Morales is one of my biggest role models. What I tell these young guys is to take it day by day. You can have one bad day, but it's just one bad day. It's not a big deal. You have to look at every game, every pitch, and just kind of be easy with everything. You don't have to stress about it too much. It's a big stage, a lot more fans coming in than they're used to. They come here, and they're ready for it. And the biggest thing as a young guy when I came in last year was the atmosphere. It wasn't the game. The game's still baseball. Nothing's changed there. So you really got to trust that this game we have been playing since you were a little kid, and that's all it's ever going to be, just a game."

On what he's looking forward to on opening night and beyond:

"Just to win and just to play together as a team and really and show everyone what and how hard we've been working. Really kind of to shock the college baseball world. Is what I'm really looking forward to."

On staying at Miami:

"I've been a guy that's been committed to Miami for a long time, at a really, really young age. I'm a person who kind of prides myself as a man of my word, and so even throughout high school, I committed here early, and that's where I was going to come to play. I wasn't going to recommit wasn't going to play anywhere else. Same thing with the transfer portal Nothing's changed. I came here to play baseball, and nothing is going to change that. This is the program and the city I committed to."

On J.D. Arteaga being elevated from pitching coach to head coach:

"What I love bout J.D. is that he's really easy to talk to. So if I have any concerns or anything that I needed to say, he's so approachable. It's really easy for me to come up to him like hey, I have a question about this, this, and this. He's my head coach be he's also...I look at him like a father figure. I've always looked at J.D. that way. Even when he was recruiting me in high school. I always looked at him as a father figure. He always had the best interest, so I really like that I have him as a head coach, but I always have someone in my back pocket, someone that I really, really look up to, and always know that he has my best interest.

On his relationship with former player YoYo Morales:

"YoYo, he's here all the time and there's a lot of them that come back all the time. But seeing YoYo here every day, I would say when I was playing with him, yeah, amazing player, probably the best baseball players I've ever played with. But now, after he's been gone and now I see him back at the field every day, that's when I truly realized how much of a role model he really was to me. I still look up to that guy. I'm still like, wow, that's who I pride myself off of. I want to be just like YoYo. To think he's only two years older than me, just kind of shows you what kind of person and player that he really is."

Cuvet, projected to be the new third basemen in the starting lineup, was drafted in the 17th round of the 2023 MLB draft, elected to join the Miami Hurricanes instead of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization:

"It was a simple process for me. I know what I wanted. Going into the draft or coming here, some things weren't met, so I decided to come here, and I'm very happy to be here. it's been a huge help for me. I've grown a lot. A lot more than I thought I would have in a quick manner, thanks to the coaches here."

More on why he chose college baseball over the minor leagues:

"I really feel like in college, we have a way more focus on winning and being a winning baseball club. Where in the minors, you kind of more have a developmental side of it. So being here and a winning aspect of it is huge, and I love that. I'm a big winner, and I think the guys around here are, so I'm really excited for that."

Wake Forest transfer Costello talked about the transition back to his hometown in Miami. Costello played at nearby Gulliver Prep and Westminster Academy.

"One thing that we did so well at Wake Forest was not look at who we're playing and look at what we're playing. We're playing the game of baseball. We play the game, and that's it. So bringing that mindset over here and really engraving that culture is what I've been trying to do.

It means the world to me. This is the place in the world, in my opinion. The best fans, the best everything, the best atmosphere. Being able to play where I've come to games growing up, it's amazing."

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