College Baseball Daily continues our countdown to the start of the 2011 College Baseball season by checking in on the Top 100 Players in the country. We will be providing one player per day until we reach number 1.
We continue the list today with number 27 Florida junior first baseman Preston Tucker. He is from Tampa Florida and attended Plant High School. He had an outstanding senior season at Plant High School which saw him hit .468 with 46 runs batted in and nine home runs. He was named honorable mention Louisville Slugger All-American when he earned first-team all-state in Class 5A for the second season. During his junior season, he was even better with a .561 average with a school-record 51 runs batted in, 34 runs, nine homers, nine doubles and three triples. He won Hillsborough County’s Triple Crown and named to The Tampa Tribune All-Hillsborough County first-team and was a first-team all-state selection.
Tucker made an immediate impact in the Florida lineup as a freshman during the 2009 season. He appeared in 62 games while starting 57. He finished the season with a .364 batting average with 15 homers and 85 RBI while only striking out 22 times. He
led the team with a .628 slugging percentage, 152 total bases, 27 multiple-hit games and 23 multiple-RBI outings. On April 8th, He had two grand slams and a three run homer as he compiled 11 RBI to tie the SEC game record and break the Florida record. He was named a Co-SEC Freshman of the Year with Matty Olt while being a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman SEC team. He was named a Freshman All-American by Baseball America, Louisville Slugger, Rivals.com and the NCBWA. The NCBWA also honored him with the Freshman Hitter of the Year Award.
Preston’s sophomore season saw his numbers dip slightly but he still was one of the top hitters in the SEC. He ended up appearing in all 64 games last season while hitting .331 with eleven homers and 49 RBI while being the everyday first baseman. He was named Second-team All-SEC while also a member of the league’s All-Defensive Team.
Tucker spent the summer of 2010 in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Orleans Firebirds. He had one of the most disappointing summers in the league as he only hit .113 with zero homers and six RBI in 27 games. He also struggled with hitting for extra bases as he had a slugging percentage of .150.
Top 100 College Baseball Players
