Want to know what it’ll take for the No. 5 Florida baseball team to reach the College World Series?
Forget Preston Tucker.
Tucker, a member of the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award — the sport’s version of the Heisman Trophy — is a baller, but the Gators’ fate doesn’t rest in his hands.
The first baseman won’t get to swing much unless his teammates are a threat as well, and that’s the key for UF.
Last year, Tucker hit .364 with 15 home runs and 85 RBIs and earned the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Freshman Hitter of the Year Award.
In UF’s five NCAA Tournament games, he hit .650 with three homers. But in the Super Regional, Southern Miss took the bat out of his hands.
In Florida’s season-ending, 7-6 loss to USM, Tucker homered in the first inning, then saw a total of zero strikes during his next three at-bats, all walks.
His teammates brought him around to score after the first walk, but he was left on base for the next two, and that’s the strategy teams will try to use against Tucker this year.
It’s up to the top of the lineup to keep that from working. Center fielder Matt den Dekker and second baseman Josh Adams hit ahead of Tucker, and designated hitter Austin Maddox is behind him at cleanup.
Odds are Tucker is going to get his this year. The question is whether opponents will have to pitch to him, and if they don’t, whether he’ll make it past first base.
Florida got this season off to a very promising start in this department, as the formula for success was on display in the first inning against USF on Friday.
Against Bulls ace Randy Fontanez, the preseason Big East Conference Pitcher of the Year, the Gators’ first four at-bats yielded four runs.
Den Dekker singled, Adams brought him in with a towering home run to left field, Tucker walked (of course) and then Maddox came through with an opposite-field blast. UF coach Kevin O’Sullivan couldn’t have drawn that up any better.
“The whole key to our offense, I believe, is Josh and Matt getting on base and forcing other teams to have to pitch to Preston,” O’Sullivan said. “If they do that, I think we’re going to score a bunch of runs.”
Maddox is the biggest question mark in that plan. Den Dekker and Adams are veterans with solid seasons under their belts, while Maddox is a newbie.
And as the guy behind Tucker, he’s the most important.
He impressed in his first two games by homering in each, but he’s hitting .210.
Luckily, he has a good mentor one spot above him in the batting order, as Tucker knows what it’s like to be a freshman in the spotlight.
“There’s always a lot of pressure, not from your peers, but you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself trying to prove that you do belong here,” Tucker said. “The first swing he took at a college ball, he hit it out.
“He showed that you can’t pitch around me every time because he’ll put up some numbers.”
Tucker hasn’t put up crazy numbers himself so far (.267, zero home runs, zero RBIs), but O’Sullivan isn’t worried.
“He gets upset, but he’ll be fine,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s part of it. If you look at anybody who has had the success he has had, you’re going to get pitched to differently.
“I’m not worried about him. He’s going to stay in that third spot all year.”
He’s right not to worry about Tucker. It’s a long season, and he’ll hit his stride. Whether the Gators hit their stride as a team will depend on the other guys keeping pace.
