Baseball's Preston Tucker Named Freshman Hitter of the Year
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 | Baseball
Florida first baseman Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) continued to reap the benefits of a phenomenal debut season when was named the 2009 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Freshman Hitter of the Year on Tuesday. He became the first Gator ever to receive the honor.
Already chosen as the Southeastern Conference's Co-Freshman of the Year and as a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA, Tucker was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Gainesville Regional, collected All-SEC Tournament Team recognition and was a unanimous choice on the SEC's All-Freshman squad.
The rookie captured 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. Tucker also led the Orange and Blue in slugging percentage (.628), multiple-hit (27) and multiple-RBI games (23), as well as total bases (152). He was the runner-up in hits (88) and doubles (13) and recorded a .992 fielding percentage.
Tucker powered UF to its first Regional crown since 2005 after going 9-for-13 (.692) during three victories over Bethune-Cookman and Miami (Fla.) 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 Hurricanes and drove in three runs. Tucker batted .531 (17-for-32) during the postseason, including a scorching .650 (13-for-20) in Florida's five NCAA outings. He hit .571 (4-for-7) in the squad's Super Regional versus Southern Miss and connected on his 15th homer in the first inning to open the scoring on Sunday night.
Tucker led the SEC in league games with 40 RBI and was named the SEC Freshman of the Week a record 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 in four years.
Florida State left-handed starting pitcher Sean Gilmartin was named the Freshman Pitcher of the Year. The southpaw ranked No. 4 in the nation in wins and was 12-3 with a 3.49 ERA in 98.0 innings pitched his season. The Moorpark, Calif., native struck out 83 batters, walked 37, posted two complete games and one save and opponents hit just .221 against him. He was named the first-team Atlantic Coast Conference and earned third-team All-America honors and freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball.
Gilmartin leads the ACC in wins with 12 and ranks in the top 10 in ERA (6th), innings pitched (t-2nd), opponents' batting average (3rd) and complete games (t-1st). He was just the second freshman in school history to earn first- team All-ACC honors. Gilmartin was named to the NCAA Tallahassee All-Region Team and helped lead the Seminoles to a final record of 45-18, the NCAA Tallahassee Regional Championship and a Super Regional berth.
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