Apr 17, 2007 7:47 pm US/Eastern
Canes Beef Up Security For Virginia Tech Trip
Begin 3 Game Series With Hokies On Friday
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CORAL GABLES (CBS4) ―
Miami's baseball team will travel to Virginia Tech this weekend as scheduled, albeit with additional security.
Speaking one day after a gunman was believed to have killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus before shooting himself -- the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history -- Miami coach Jim Morris said Tuesday that he doesn't believe his team will be in an unsafe environment, but is adding extra protection to put his players' minds at ease.
"I just want our guys to feel comfortable," Morris said.
Morris called Virginia Tech coach Peter Hughes Tuesday to offer his condolences.
"They want to try to get everything back to normalcy as soon as possible on campus," Morris said. "There is more security on campus than the rest of state of Virginia right now."
Not surprisingly, Miami's players aren't certain what to expect on this trip.
"I'm not really sure what to expect," said Scott Maine, who's expected to be the Hurricanes' starting pitcher when the series opens Friday. "It could be a down game or they could want to lift up the school and want to play hard. Who knows? It is so soon from that event."
Added Miami first baseman Yonder Alonso, who leads the Hurricanes in average, home runs and RBIs: "Imagine what it is like for them, Our prayers are with them."
The shootings were especially horrifying for Miami outfielder Jonathan Weislow, a freshman from Vienna, Va., who knows several Virginia Tech students.
"All of my friends from high school went there so I immediately starting thinking if my friends were OK," Weislow said. "Everyone that I talked to was just panicking and said it was just unreal."
The Hurricanes will be wearing black armbands in memory of the victims.
"Everyone will be thinking about it," Morris said. "There is no question about that."
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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