Alumni Roundup: Week Eight

April 9, 2024


The first weekend of April provided some impressive performances from alumni. A few names are beginning to separate themselves due to consistency a month and a half through the 2024 campaign. With an outstanding beginning half of the season, Blake Wright has been added to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watchlist. The award, which is announced on June 22, is given to the top player in college baseball. It’s hard to ignore the season he’s put together, especially since it’s helped lead Clemson to a No. 2 national rank.

Alum of the Week


Jaylon Nauden (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) squared off against fellow Tier alum, Khyle Radcliffe and Southern University, this weekend. He went 9-for-15 in the series win. Included in his nine knocks were three doubles, a triple and a homer. He’s hitting at a .403 clip this season.

Nauden is a Marian Catholic grad. He transferred to UAPB from Butler University, 2024 being his first season as a Golden Lion.

Notable Performances


Nick Monile (Niagara) is another player that’s separating himself as one of the top freshmen in the MAAC. He’s second in the conference in average, hitting at a .417 clip. He’s recorded 35 hits on the season and has an OPS of 1.034. He’s drawn nearly twice as many walks as strikeouts. This weekend against Michigan State, Monile went 3-for-11. He unfortunately saw his 15-game hit streak come to an end on Sunday.



Our reigning player of the week, Hunter Mink (South Florida), continues to roll with a stellar performance this past Friday against Wichita State. At home in Tampa, Mink threw eight innings allowing three runs on six hits. He recorded his third win of the season and continues to show his workhorse-like abilities as he threw 107 pitches in the outing.



The aforementioned Blake Wright had three hits last week. Clemson swept Notre Dame and has since been ranked No. 2 in most national polls.


Daniel Pacella (Illinois State) had six hits in a series sweep against Valparaiso. Pacella upped his average to .358. He leads the team in RBI, total bases and walks.



Peyton Olejnik (Miami (OH)) is finding his stride. He threw 3.1 innings against Ball State allowing a run and striking out five. The Redhawks would eventually drop the game, but Olejnik is trending upwards.

Olejnik was the subject of last week’s Front Row Feature, an article put together by Miami Redhawks athletics. You can read that story below:



Facing off against this week’s alum of the week, Khyle Radcliffe (Southern) had himself a series, too, against Arkansas Pine-Bluff. Radcliffe had six hits in 13 AB’s. He had two doubles and a triple in the series. He’s hitting .389 on the season.

Brendan Summerhill and Jackson Kent helped the Wildcats to a series sweep at Cal. Kent opened the weekend on Friday with a strong six-inning performance allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out six in a 98-pitch outing. Meanwhile, Summerhill collected five hits over the weekend. He doubled and knocked in a pair over the course of three games.



In a series win at Minnesota, Vytas Valincius (Illinois) collected three hits. He added a pair of walks to bring his season total to 17. He’s second on the team in that category.

Landon Maroudis (Dunedin Blue Jays, Single-A) began his season with a four-inning, no-hit performance. He struck out five and earned the win in a tightly contested matchup with the Lakeland Flying Tigers.




Aidan Miller and Dakota Kotowski are teammates on the Clearwater Threshers (Single-A). They opened up the season with a series win at the Bradenton Marauders. In the series, Miller had two hits and drove in a pair. He walked twice and swiped a bag in the opener. Kotowski launched a homer and drove in two on Saturday.  He also walked twice in the series.

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