Junior left-hander/designated hitter Brian
Johnson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.), junior right-hander Austin Maddox
(Jacksonville, Fla.) and junior catcher Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.)
were named All-Americans on Wednesday by the National Collegiate Baseball
Writers Association (NCBWA). Johnson and Zunino were first-team recipients,
while Maddox earned a berth on the third team. It marks the first time in school
history that three Gators have been recognized by the organization in the same
season.
A first-team choice in the utility spot,
Johnson was previously named as a second-team All-American by Louisville
Slugger and is a contender for the 2012 John Olerud Award presented to the
nation’s top two-way standout. Chosen first-team All-SEC for the past two
seasons, he is 8-4 with a 3.56 earned run average on the mound and has 68
strikeouts in 86 innings, to go along with a .314 clip, 41 RBI, 24 runs, 13
doubles and six homers. The southpaw tossed his first career complete game to
oust fourth-ranked South Carolina from the SEC Tourney on May 25 and matched
his career high with four hits in the semifinal round the following day against
Vanderbilt. In his most recent outing on the mound, Johnson limited the
high-powered Georgia Tech offense to one run on three hits over five innings on
June 3 as the Gators cruised to a 15-3 victory over the Jackets to punch their
fourth-straight ticket to Super Regionals. Johnson batted .429 (3-for-7) in the
sweep of No. 11 NC State last weekend and tied the second encounter with the
Wolfpack with a solo homer in the eighth inning of Florida’s eventual 9-8
triumph in 10 innings.
Named
the first-team catcher on the NCBWA’s All-American squad, Zunino continues to
reel in the accolades, as the first-team Louisville Slugger All-American is
also a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, the Golden Spikes Award and
the Johnny Bench Award. He leads the Gators in total bases (162), RBI (64),
doubles (28), homers (19), sacrifice flies (10) and slugging percentage (.678)
and is 9-for-10 on the basepaths. A two-time first-team All-SEC recipient and
two-time member of the league’s All-Defensive Team who is hitting .322 overall,
Zunino has registered a .994 fielding percentage, with three errors in 493
chances, and has thrown out almost a third of the runners who have attempted to
steal on him.
Zunino
was voted to the NCAA Gainesville Regional All-Tournament Team for the
third-consecutive season after belting homers in consecutive games against No.
24 Georgia Tech and he led the Orange and Blue with a .500 (4-for-8) clip in
the pair of victories over NC State that punched Florida’s return ticket to
Omaha. The first-round pick of the Seattle Mariners is 6-for-19 (.316) during
the NCAA Tourney with team highs in RBI (9) and homers (3) as the Gators boast
a 5-0 record.
Maddox
achieved All-America status for the second time in his career after being voted
onto to the third team as a freshman in 2010. The Gators’ closer has collected
12 saves, one shy of matching the school’s single-season record, and is 3-3
with a 2.50 ERA. In 31 appearances covering 54 innings, the right-hander has
registered 57 strikeouts and issued 11 walks, while limiting opponents to a
.210 batting average.
