The way Preston Tucker is hitting the baseball for Florida, it’s almost comical. The opposition, of course, isn’t laughing.
The 6-foot, 205-pound freshman from Tampa Plant hit a record-tying three home runs – a grand slam in the fifth, a 3-run homer in the sixth and another grand slam in the seventh – and knocked in a school-record 11 runs to lead Florida to a 16-3 victory over shell-shocked UCF Wednesday at McKethan Stadium.
In his last three games for Kevin O’Sullivan’s Gators (21-11), Tucker has gone 10-of-12 at the plate with six home runs and 20 RBI. He is now batting a team-leading .363 (37-of-102) with 7 home runs and 39 RBI. Oh, and his slugging percentage is now .667.
Prior to Wednesday’s explosion, Tucker was 3-for-4 with 5 RBI in Florida’s 16-9 SEC loss Sunday at Vanderbilt. Two of the hits were home runs – a solo blast and a 3-run shot.
On Tuesday, Tucker went 4-for-4 with a 2-run homer and 4 RBI in Florida’s 12-7 victory over visiting Bethune-Cookman.
The 11 RBI in one game broke the Florida single-game record held by Tucker’s teammate Avery Barnes, who greeted him at home plate after the last blast.
“I’ve never done that before, so I’ve never had the high you get with three home runs in a game,” Tucker said. “I’m kind of still in awe.”
Florida was trailing 3-1 when the left-handed hitting Tucker got started in the fifth. The bases were loaded with Gators when Tucker deposited a 2-2 pitch from Cory Weech over Stadium Road behind right field to give Florida a 5-3 lead.
“I’d say the first one (was my favorite),” Tucker said. “I was down 0-2 and we were down 3-1 at the time. I was just trying to give the team the lead. That one felt the best.”
Tucker wasn’t the only one impressed.
“The one he hit down the right-field line might have hit Keys,” O’Sullivan said with a glance at the dorms behind the scoreboard.
But Tucker was only getting started. In the sixth, Barnes hit a sacrifice fly to left with the bases loaded to give Florida an 8-3 lead and Tucker hit a 1-1 pitch off D.J. Hicks over the 365-foot sign in left-center to put the Gators up 11-3. The opposite-field shot left O’Sullivan duly impressed.
“That’s the one thing he was not able to do,” O’Sullivan said. “He wasn’t able to use the other side of the field.”
In the seventh, the Gators got the bases full again with two outs, sending Tucker to the plate again against Matt Goodyear, the eighth of nine pitchers used by the Knights (11-22).
“A lot of the guys were joking about trying to get me to hit another one,” Tucker said with a smile.
Tucker didn’t wait, jumping on the first pitch and lining it no more than 30 feet off the ground over the center-field 400-foot sign. As he rounded the bases and touched home, the crowd chanted “Pres-ton Tuc-ker.”
Barnes was one of the first players to greet him when he touched home. “He was kind of upset,” Tucker joked. “He had a smile on his face, but I felt like he was grinning through his teeth. I didn’t know he had the record before until he told me about it.”
Breaking Barnes’ record for RBI in a game wasn’t the only milestone Wednesday night for Tucker. He became only the second person in SEC history to record 11 RBI in a game. Tucker was also only the third person in SEC history to hit two grand slams in one game. The three homers in a game tied a school mark.
“No, (I have) not quite (seen anything) like that,” O’Sullivan said. “I’ve seen great games. He’s obviously seeing the ball well, but to see it and square it up the way he is are two different things. The most remarkable thing is he hit one to left, center and right. He used the whole field.”
Freshman Ben McMahan also contributed with his first collegiate home run and RBI. He lifted a high fly ball over the bleachers in left field to start off the seventh inning before Tucker did his damage.
“He’s a strong kid,” O’Sullivan said. “He certainly has a chance to be a really, really good player for us. He’s very talented. It’s hard for a freshman. They don’t get out there much. It’s good to get him out there.”
Overshadowed in the display of home runs was 6 1/3 scoreless innings dealt by Florida pitchers Alex Panteliodis, Anthony DeSclafani (3-1), Kevin Chapman, Will Jolin, Lee Reumann and Chas Spottswood.
The sharp, quick outings for all of the pitchers allows Florida to go into this weekend’s SEC series at Auburn with every pitcher having a fresh arm.
“DeSclafani is kind of the key to our staff right now,” O’Sullivan said. “He’s started and come out of the pen. I’d feel confident pitching him at the end of the game, beginning of the game or middle relief.”