Miami Baseball Holds First Spring Practice Friday

Jan. 29, 2010

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 12th-ranked University of Miami baseball team held its first official practice of the spring Friday afternoon at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

The `Canes, who have earned a Top 20 ranking in the three preseason polls released thus far, practiced for just under four hours under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-70’s.

Head coach Jim Morris is back for his 17th year at the helm of the UM program after leading the `Canes to their NCAA-record 37th-straight tournament appearance last season. The 2010 `Canes feature 17 returning letterwinnners, led by preseason All-America catcher Yasmani Grandal, All-ACC pitchers Eric Erickson and Chris Hernandez, as well as All-ACC second baseman Scott Lawson. In addition the players returning, Miami welcomes 14 newcomers to this year’s squad – a group that includes six pitchers, four infielders, three outfielders and a catcher.

With the season opener slated for Feb. 19 at home against Rutgers, the `Canes have exactly three weeks to prepare for the start of the 2010 campaign. In addition to the season-opening series against the Scarlet Knights, the Hurricanes’ 56-game 2010 slate features an exhibition contest against the Florida Marlins in Jupiter on March 3 and 19 games against 2009 NCAA Tournament teams.

In total, UM is scheduled to play 36 games at Alex Rodriguez Park this season. For ticket information for the 2010 baseball season, call 1-800-GO-CANES or visit www.hurricanesports.com.

Practices will continue this weekend with 10 a.m. practice sessions on Saturday and Sunday at Alex Rodriguez Park.