Preston Tucker Named First-Team Preseason All-American

[GatorCody]

UF's Preston Tucker Named First-Team Preseason All-American

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Sophomore first baseman Preston Tucker (Tampa,
Fla.) was named to the 2010 National Collegiate Baseball Writers
Association (NCBWA) Pro-Line Athletic Preseason All-America Team
released on Wednesday.

In his first collegiate season, Tucker was chosen as the NCBWA Freshman
Hitter of the Year, a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American by
Collegiate Baseball newspaper and was a Freshman All-American by
Baseball America, the NCBWA and Rivals.com.

The 2009 SEC Co-Freshman of the Year, Tucker earned the Gators’
“Triple Crown” by leading the team in batting average (.364),
runs batted in (85) and home runs (15). His total of 85 RBI was a
single-season school record and eclipsed the previous mark of 80 set by
Ryan Shealy during the 2002 campaign. The slugger also led the Orange
and Blue in slugging percentage (.628), multiple-hit (27) and
multiple-RBI games (23), as well as total bases (152).

Tucker was named the NCAA Gainesville Regional’s Most Outstanding
Player after going 9-for-13 (.692) over the three Florida victories with
six RBI, two homers and a slugging percentage of 1.231. The rookie was
4-for-5 in the championship-game triumph over the Miami (Fla.) and
notched three RBI. Tucker batted .531 (17-for-32) during the postseason,
including a scorching .650 (13-for-20) in UF’s five NCAA outings.

A unanimous choice on the SEC’s All-Freshman squad, Tucker had a
spectacular debut to his collegiate career by leading the SEC in league
play with 40 RBI. Named the SEC Freshman of the Week three times during
the campaign (March 30, April 13, April 27), the Tampa native had a .350
batting average, a .545 slugging percentage, 23 runs and 14 extra-base
hits during conference action in helping the Gators capture their first
Eastern Division title since 2005. Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan’s
squad will kick off its campaign by hosting USF in a three-game weekend
series at McKethan Stadium starting on Friday, Feb. 19, at 6:30 p.m. To
view the complete 2010 Preseason NCBWA All-America Teams, visit
www.GatorZone.com.

[dadx4]

Wow, Congrats to Preston!!

[gatorbogey]

good stuff. gonna be interesting to see who's gonna bat behind preston in the lineup this year. any thoughts on that?

[Gatorgal04]

Coach is going to do his best to surround Preston with other good hitters so they'll have to pitch to him. Nolan Fontana, Bryson Smith, Austin Maddox, denDekker and Adams have been mentioned.

[GatorCody]

Fontana will most likely leadoff. Sully has proven he usually goes with the hot bat, but I would think maybe Adams hits cleanup to start the year like he did last year.

[gatorbogey]

i was thinking we might see one of the new catchers in the 4th slot behind tucker as the DH; sounds like they can hit for power.

[GatorCody]

That is certainly possible, but none of the catchers have much experience. I've heard some tremendous things about the way Maddox is swinging the bat so far, as well as the rest of the catchers, so it's certainly possible that one of them can move into the cleanup spot later in the year.

Adams did a good job hitting behind Tucker last year, and I think they might start the season out with a sure thing like him hitting cleanup.

[MadduxFanII]

I said this about LaPorta back in 2006: the best way to "protect" Tucker is to get guys on base ahead of him. We don't have anyone as good as Preston. We have some excellent hitters, but no matter who we stick in the clean-up spot, the pitcher is going to choose that guy instead of Preston. No disrespect to Josh Adams, who's an outstanding player, but he doesn't strike fear in the same way Tucker does.

If you want to force opposing teams to pitch to Tucker, load the 9-1-2 spots with great on-base guys. And if the other team still wants to pitch around Preston with two runners on base, hey, we should take that every time. I'll take my chances with Adams up and the bases loaded.

[GatorCody]

That's a great point, Maddux. I really think Nolan Fontana is going to have a huge impact on this team, most likely from that leadoff spot. He's got experience from his time with Team USA and hitting leadoff for them, and I think he'll step into the spot this spring and have a huge impact.

The 9 and 2 spots in the order really could be the key. Jonathan Pigott did really well in the two-hole at the end of last season, so I think they may start him out there too.

[HiFiGator]

Yeah, I think that JP really finished strong and I expect a solid year from him. Also, I always thought that Matt den Dekker would be a good 2 hitter. Maybe he has a little bit more pop than most 2s, but I still think he would be a decent guy in that spot. If Nolan can do what we are hoping -- batting maybe .310 or so and drawing a lot of walks, then I would like having a lefty with speed in the two hole to help stay out of those dreaded Babineauxs (double plays for you newbies).

Is Fontana a righty, lefty or switch? If he is a lefty, then I'm sure coach will want to keep JP in the 2 spot. He does really like to go L-R-L-R whenever possible. I don't think he would want to start off with 3 lefties in a row.

[GatorCody]

Fontana is a lefty, and you're about the L-R-L-R thing. In fact, I really think there's a chance that could happen in the lineup through at least the first six spots.

Fontana- L
J Pigott- R
Tucker- L
Adams- R
den Dekker- L
Bryson Smith- R

[DoubleDown11]

Why won't Adams hit behind Tucker? It worked just fine last year.