Baseball's Preston Tucker Named SEC Freshman of the Week For Third Time
Monday, April 27, 2009 | Baseball
University of Florida first baseman Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) was named as the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week for the third time on Monday after playing a key role in Florida's first sweep of South Carolina since 1997 and its first series triumph over the Gamecocks since 2005. He also received the recognition on April 13 and March 30. No Florida freshman had ever received the accolade more than once in a season.
Over the three games between the Eastern Division rivals, Tucker batted .462 (6-for-13) and delivered a pair of RBI singles in the first game as the Gators notched a come-from-behind victory. He put Florida ahead in the fifth with an infield hit that scored junior Mike Mooney (Loxahatchee, Fla.) and provided the hosts with some insurance in the eighth with a single through the right side that brought in senior Avery Barnes (High Springs , Fla.).
On Saturday, Tucker was 3-for-5 and drove in two more runs with a double in the opening frame and a grounder in the eighth, giving him a team-high 57 RBI. The rookie capped the successful weekend by going 1-for-4 and scored twice in Sunday's 9-5 triumph.
On the campaign, Tucker ranks third on the Gators with a .344 average and is second on the team with a .366 clip in SEC contests. He leads Florida in RBI (57), multiple-RBI games (15), home runs (nine) and slugging percentage (.594) and twenty-seven of his 57 RBI have come in league play.
Having moved up in all four national polls this week, No. 17 Florida (31-14/13-8 SEC) returns to action on Friday at 7 p.m. by traveling to Athens to face No. 6 Georgia (33-11/14-7 SEC) in the opener of a crucial SEC series. The Bulldogs and No. 4 LSU (33-12/14-7 SEC) are tied for the top spot in the league standings, with the Gators one game behind.
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