Miami Hurricanes announce $7 million fundraising goal for baseball facilities upgrade
The Miami Hurricanes baseball team is the latest program at the university to dive into facilities upgrades.
Miami announced the start of a fundraising campaign Friday to raise $7 million to upgrade facilitiese at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field and Gino DiMare is kickstarting the campaign with a $500,000 donation.
DiMare, who concluded his first season as coach earlier this year, played for the Hurricanes in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and spent 19 years as an assistant coach before getting the top job ahead of last season.
DiMare made the announcement Thursday at a reception at the home of president Julio Frenk, and the university officially announced the campaign Friday.
“This program has given so much to me and I feel that I owe it to give back,” DiMare said in a statement. “I believe in our program and what we are doing and I am committed to do everything I can to help us be the very best.”
The $7 million campaign includes funding for a new scoreboard, and renovations for Miami’s locker room players lounge and nutrition center. The fundraising is part of a second wave of renovations for the Hurricanes’ Coral Gables facility. Miami is set to break ground this fall on an indoor practice facility, which will include batting cages, bullpens and a multi-purpose area.
Miami, which missed the postseason in 2017 and 2018, returned to the NCAA tournament this year and finished the year ranked No. 19 in the D1Baseball Top 25. The Hurricanes also have a top-10 recruiting class incoming.
“Hurricanes baseball is one of the most historic and successful programs in college baseball,” athletic director Blake James said in a statement. “And we are committed to supporting our student-athletes, and coaches on and off the field to ensure we continue that winning tradition. These state-of-the-art facility renovations will help our baseball team continue to build champions and compete at the highest level year after year.”
