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Canes Baseball Beats PSU 3-2, CJ Kayfus Walk Off Two-Run Homer Saves the Day

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Photo Credit: twitter.com/CanesBaseball / LifeWallet Athlete Yohandy Morales and CJ Kayfus

CJ Kayfus the Miami Hurricanes first baseman and the Hurricanes MVP a year ago had only tallied just one hit across his first 11 at-bats in 2023.

The struggles Kayfus experienced throughout the weekend would come to an end. ‘Mark Light Magic’ happened and Kayfus delivered a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning, lifting his 22nd ranked Miami Hurricanes team to a 3-2 win over Penn State at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field, and a home series victory to start the season.

A motivational moment between junior catcher Jack Scanlon and Kayfus would spark the plug, Kayfus would turn out to be the Hurricanes hero Sunday afternoon.

“I was struggling early on in the game,” said Kayfus. “He [Jack Scanlon] pulled me aside and said, ‘I believe in you, and you’re going to win this game for us.’ It was the craziest thing ever, but I owe it all to him.”

“CJ hadn’t had a good series. You could see he was frustrated. I’m sure glad Jack had a talk with him. We need to hire Jack as one of our assistant coaches,” said Canes head coach Gino DiMare.

After losing their season opening game to Penn State on Friday night [9-5], the Hurricanes now sit 2-1 on the season after bouncing back to secure the home series victory over the Nittany Lions.

Miami was down to their final out, sophomore outfielder Edgardo Villegas singled to center field, bringing Kayfus up to bat.

Then the moment came, Kayfus delivered a bomb on a first-pitch change-up and knocked it out of the park 405 feet away into the Ponce De Leon Parking Garage in right field, sending all Hurricanes fans watching the broadcast and spectators at Mark Light Field into a frenzy of celebration.

“There was no doubt we were going to come back,” said Kayfus, after his second career walk-off hit. “There is no time limit in baseball. That was pretty special.”

Kayfus was showered in Gatorade at home plate in a cheerful celebration among the team, but he was not the only Hurricane that would shine during Sunday’s come-from-behind win.

Freshmen Chris Scinta, Blake Cyr, Sophomore Brian Walters and LifeWallet athlete/Junior Andrew Walters also shined for the Hurricanes.

The left-handed freshman in Chris Scinta entered the game with two runners on and no outs in the sixth inning before he would strand the bases loaded with a strikeout of his own.

In the bottom half of the sixth inning, Blake Cyr would provide an RBI single to cut the deficit from two to one. Cyr recorded his first hit as a Hurricane earlier in the game.

“I’ve never been a part of any circumstance like that,” said Cyr. “That was probably the most surreal moment I’ve had of my baseball career yet. What a great way to start at the University of Miami.”

Brian Walters would replace Scinta in the seventh inning and struck out back-to-back hitters and halted any advancement from the Nittany Lions, just before his older brother, Andrew Walters, would knock out five hitters across two scoreless innings. All final three hitters who went up to bat against the elder Walters would strike out.

“Our guys never quit,” head coach Gino DiMare said. “Proud of our guys for fighting back and being able to pull through to get the victory and win the series today.”

The Miami Hurricanes Baseball team will host the Stetson Hatters in their first midweek contest of the year on Tuesday evening. First pitch is set for 6:00 P.M. EST at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.

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