UF's Brian Johnson & Preston Tucker Chosen To Baseball America's Preseason All-American Team
Friday, February 4, 2011 | Baseball
University of Florida sophomore Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) and junior Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) were each named to the 2011 Preseason All-America Team released on Friday by Baseball America. Tucker had been previously chosen to Preseason All-America teams by Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).
Chosen to BA's second team as designated hitter, Tucker earned second-team All-SEC honors last spring and was a member of the league's All-Defensive Team. He started 50 games at first base, seven in right field and six at designated hitter and hit .331 with 50 runs, 49 RBI, 43 walks, 17 doubles, 11 homers and eight stolen bases. Against conference competition, Tucker had a .312 average with 21 RBI, 21 walks, 20 runs, nine doubles and six HR. The 2009 SEC Co-Freshman of the Year picked up All-Tourney recognition at the Gainesville Regional after batting .400 (6-for-15) with four RBI and two runs and was UF's top hitter as a position player at the SEC Tourney with a .313 (5-for-13) clip.
A third-team selection in the utility spot, Johnson was a member of the 2010 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team that brought home a silver medal from the V FISU World University Championships in Toyko, Japan, last summer. Named as a Freshman All-American by Baseball America, Louisville Slugger, the NCBWA and Yahoo! Sports, Johnson earned spots on the SEC's All-Freshman Team as a starting pitcher and designated hitter. In 16 appearances on the mound, with 14 starts, the southpaw was 6-4 with a 4.03 earned run average and recorded 51 strikeouts in 73.2 innings. Johnson served as the Gators' DH in 27 games and batted .405 (34-for-84) with 21 RBI, 13 runs, nine walks, five doubles, four homers and two grand slams. He was tabbed as the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Gainesville Regional after going 5-for-8 (.625) at the plate and twirling seven shutout innings in the championship game. Johnson batted .500 (14-for-28) in eight postseason games and was 9-for-19 (.474) during the NCAA Tourney.
Head coach Kevin O'Sullivan's squad captured the 2010 SEC title, its 11th league crown in school history, with a program-best 22-8 league mark and claimed nine of the 10 league series. In addition, the Gators won the SEC Eastern Division title for the second-straight year, their first time earning back-to-back divisional flags since the squad collected three in a row from 1996-98. UF then advanced to the NCAA College World Series in Omaha, Neb., for the first time in five years after sweeping the Regional and Super Regional rounds on its own turf and finished with an overall mark of 47-17. The Gators will open the season on Feb. 18 with a three-game series against USF at McKethan Stadium.
2011 Baseball America Preseason All-America Team
First Team
C – Peter O'Brien, Bethune-Cookman
1B – Ricky Oropesa, Southern Cal
2B – Kolten Wong, Hawaii
3B – Anthony Rendon, Rice
SS – Kenny Diekroeger, Stanford
OF – Jackie Bradley, Jr., South Carolina
OF – Mikie Mahtook, LSU
OF – George Springer, Connecticut
DH – Alex Dickerson, Indiana
UT – Danny Hultzen, Virginia
Pitchers
RHP – Gerrit Cole, UCLA
RHP – Sonny Gray, Vanderbilt
RHP – Taylor Jungmann, Texas
LHP – Matt Purke, TCU
RP – Tony Zych, Louisville
UT – Danny Hultzen, Virginia
Second Team
C – Andrew Susac, Oregon State
1B – Aaron Westlake, Vanderbilt
2B – Zack MacPhee, Arizona State
3B – Jason Esposito, Vanderbilt
SS – Deven Marrero, Arizona State
OF – Jason Coats, TCU
OF – Zach Cone, Georgia
OF – Johnny Ruettiger, Arizona State
DH – Preston Tucker, FLORIDA
UT – Mike McGee, Florida State
Pitchers
RHP – Matt Barnes, Connecticut
RHP – Trevor Bauer, UCLA
LHP – Jed Bradley, Georgia Tech
RHP – John Stilson, Texas A&M
RP – Mark Appel, Stanford
UT – Mike McGee, Florida State
Third Team
C – CJ. Cron, Utah
1B – Nick Ramirez, Cal State Fullerton
2B – Ryan Wright, Louisville
3B – Harold Martinez, Miami (Fla.)
SS – Levi Michael, North Carolina
OF – Nick Martini, Kansas State
OF – Jeff Schaus, Clemson
OF – Austin Wilson, Stanford
DH – Zach Wilson, Arizona State
UT – Brian Johnson, FLORIDA
Pitchers
LHP – Tyler Anderson, Oregon
RHP – Cole Green, Texas
RHP – Anthony Meo, Coastal Carolina
RHP – Noe Ramirez, Cal State Fullerton
RP – Matt Price, South Carolina
UT – Brian Johnson, FLORIDA
