AUBURN, Ala. — Preston Tucker’s bat stayed hot for Florida, but Mother Nature cooled things off for the evening in the Southeastern Conference baseball series opener between the Gators and Auburn Tigers Friday night.
Tucker, a freshman first baseman from Plant High School in Tampa, entered the game on a 10-for-12 hitting streak (with six home runs and 20 RBI) in his last three games. He was 2-for-2 with an RBI as the Gators took a 4-1 lead before the game was halted by the wailing of tornado sirens. Florida had one on with one out when the game was halted and the stadium cleared because of the tornado warning issued for the Auburn-Opelika area.
The game will be continued Saturday at 2 p.m. ET with the regularly scheduled game following 45 minutes after completion of the suspended game.
Florida’s Avery Barnes was at the plate with a 2-2 count when the game was halted as the tornado sirens blared in the immediate area, prompting an immediate stoppage in play to clear the stadium. Barnes, whose school record of 10 RBI in one game was surpassed by Tucker in a 3-home run, 11-RBI performance during Wednesday’s 16-3 victory over UCF at McKethan Stadium, had a solo home run in the fourth inning and Matt den Dekker had a solo homer in the fifth to give Florida its 4-1 lead.
Florida scored three runs in the top of the fourth as Barnes led off the inning with a home run to right off of Auburn starter Grant Dayton. Josh Adams followed with a double off the wall in left and scored on Preston Tucker’s single up the middle, all with none out. Buddy Munroe’s one-out groundout to second scored Tucker for the 3-0 lead.
Joseph Sanders’s 15th home run of the season with one out in the bottom of the fourth narrowed the gap to 3-1 only to have Florida answer on Matt den Dekker’s solo homer with one out in the top of the fifth.