Preston Tucker is beginning to live up to the hype. When he signed with the Gators folks were gushing about his almost unlimited power. With three home runs and 12 RBI in his last four games including a homer and four RBI in Florida’s 12-7 win over Bethune-Cookman at McKethan Stadium Tuesday night, Tucker is turning everyone into a believer.
“I’m just picking up the pitches,” Tucker said after going 4-4 against the Wildcats. “I’m looking for pitches up in the zone early in counts that I can drive. I’m getting those pitches.”
Tucker also got new contacts over a week ago and he thinks that might have something to do with seeing the ball better and a batting average that has soared to .347.
“He’s always hit,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said. “He’s probably hit since he was four years old. He’s always been a natural hitter. What he’s doing right now, we’re not overly surprised to be honest. That’s why we recruited him. He’s a guy we’ve been bragging about since day one.”
Tucker isn’t the only freshman making it tough on opposing pitchers lately. Outfielder Daniel Pigott hit his first collegiate home run in the first inning Tuesday night and added an RBI with a second inning sacrifice fly.
“It was exciting,” Pigott said of his first home run. “It had to come sometime right? I didn’t [think it was gone]. I took off running and thought it was going to be an out.”
Tucker and Pigott have made their presence felt in the Florida lineup. Pigott has emerged as the number two hitter because he is the team’s best bunter and he has above average speed and bat control. Tucker hitting in the five hole although his power makes him an obvious candidate to bat cleanup.
Other freshmen are also growing up quickly for a Florida team that is one of the youngest in the Southeastern Conference.
“I think a lot of the freshman are doing well,” O’Sullivan said. “If given the opportunity I think (Ben) McMahan is going to do some really good things here. The pitching with (Anthony) DeSclafani, AP (Alex Panteliodis), (Greg) Larson has had some big innings for us and of course (Nick) Maronde. I’ve been pleased with just about all the freshman so fun.”
Florida seemed in control of the game Tuesday night, taking a 6-1 into the fifth inning when the Wildcats rallied. BCC put together five runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at 6-6. Five of those runs came off senior starter Patrick Keating, who went 5-1/3 innings.
Outside of a sparkling seven-inning outing on opening night against Louisville, Keating has struggled this season. The Florida coaches know his importance to this team, and their confidence in him remains high.
“He showed flashes of throwing the ball pretty good tonight, and then at times got some balls up and fell behind,” O’Sullivan said. “He went to three balls an awful lot to leadoff hitters. It’s not his stuff, it’s just his location. Better location, better results. It’s as simple as that. The velocity on the fastball is the same and the breaking ball is the same, it’s just he’s not locating like he was last year.
“I still think he’s going to figure it out. He’s one start away from putting it all back together. I really believe that. When he does have a really good start and commands the ball, the rest of the season will be fine. He’s just got to find that one start.”
Tony Davis (4-0) relieved Keating and got the win, turning in 2-1/3 innings while giving up one run and two hits. Florida got its offense cranked up, scoring one in the sixth and five in the seventh to make Davis the pitcher of record.
Four singles, two walks, a wild pitch and two BCC errors turned the tight game into a rout as the confident Gators manufactured the winning runs.
“After the seven run comeback (last Saturday against Alabama), we all know we can hit no matter what the situation,” Pigott said. “We were down seven runs and scored seven in one inning.”
The 22nd-ranked Gators (20-11) play again Wednesday night at McKethan Stadium when Central Florida comes to town. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30.