CORAL GABLES, Fla. — One hundred and one Hurricanes baseball alumni returned to Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field Saturday evening for the annual Alumni Game.
The 2024 Miami Hurricanes used some big swings and a dominant pitching performance to top the Alumni, 6-1.
The Alumni Team featured former MLB veterans Alex Cora and Jon Jay, Washington Nationals' highly-touted prospect Yohandy Morales, and fan favorites like Philadelphia Phillies' first base coach Paco Figueroa and “Downtown” Kevin Brown.
Miami head coach J.D. Arteaga, who guided the Hurricanes to the College World Series four straight seasons from 1994-1997 and left the program as the all-time wins leader, was humbled to see so many former players return to Mark Light Field.
“It was a great weekend,” Arteaga said. “We had a tremendous turn out at our reunion and then today at our game. A lot of guys who haven’t been around in a long time and we even had bunch of pro ball guys play too. I’m just to blessed to have this much support.”
After the pregame festivities, the Hurricanes stormed out of the gates.
Senior outfielder Lucas Costello socked a solo shot in both the first and third frames to put the Hurricanes up, 2-0.
“I’m just happy to do it back home and having fun,” said the Miami native, who transferred after three years at Wake Forest. “We have unbelievable fan support here.”
On the mound, junior Herick Hernandez set the tone from the first pitch. Hernandez retired the first 13 batters he faced, limiting the alumni to just one run on one hit.
The southpaw punched out 11 hitters, including strikeouts of Cora and Morales.
“All of my pitches were working,” Hernandez said. “I felt confident with every single one of them and attacked the zone. It was cool to face and compete against pro guys, and it builds confidence for me going into the season.”
Juniors Dorian Gonzalez Jr. and Gaby Gutierrez and freshman Jake Kulikowski plated a quartet of insurance tallies in the late innings, as right-handers Drew Dwyer, Slaide Naturman, and Julian Hernandez and southpaw Chris Scinta teamed up to toss four shutout frames to cap off the victory.
Miami begins its 2024 slated on Feb. 16 with the first contest of a four-game set against NJIT. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Mark Light Field.
Courtesy of Miami Athletics
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