Senior
Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) became Florida’s career RBI leader and
junior Brian Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) (1-0) carried a shutout into
the seventh inning as the top-ranked Gators (6-1) clinched their weekend series
with a 5-1 victory over William & Mary (2-4) on Saturday afternoon at
McKethan Stadium.
Tucker
(2-for-4) belted a two-out solo homer in the third inning to break a tie with Brad
Wilkerson (1996-98) on top of the school’s career list. He now has a Florida-record
215 RBI in 205 games played. Freshman Casey Turgeon (Palm Harbor, Fla.) (2-for-3)
had a two-run dinger as part of a three-run sixth for his first career
round-tripper.
“I
thought that our approach was better,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said.
“I don’t think the result was quite what we wanted as far as the hit total, but
I thought we tried to go the other way a little bit better. We tried to swing
at better pitches earlier in the count to not get ourselves out. It was a tough
day to hit – the wind was blowing across from right to left, and we hit a lot
of fly balls to right field. But, I thought the approach itself was better. The
results were obviously not what they wanted as a whole, but the bottom line is
that the approach was better.”
On
setting the RBI record, Tucker said, “It’s a little relief and felt good,
especially since we were only up one at that point. I got the record; it feels
great and now I can just continue to have good at-bats.”
“It
was really cool (receiving a standing ovation from the crowd at McKethan
Stadium). A lot of these fans I see every day; we have a ton of loyal fans. It
was a great crowd today and I’d like to thank the fans for supporting me over
the last four years.”
“It
means a lot (to break the record). It’s really cool since it was previously
held by Brad Wilkerson who played in the Big Leagues for a ton of years. And,
you know, it means a lot knowing that the guys in front of me have been on base
a whole lot -- going back to Avery Barnes and Matt den Dekker too, and the guys
hitting in front of me this year. We’ve had a great team through the last four
years and it means a lot to me.”
More at http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=22497
