Florida senior outfielder Preston Tucker
(Tampa, Fla.) and junior catcher Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) were
named All-Americans on Wednesday by the American Baseball Coaches Association
(ABCA)/Rawlings. Zunino was a first-team recipient, while Tucker earned a berth
on the second team.
Named
the first-team catcher on the squad, Zunino continues to reel in the accolades,
as the first-team Louisville Slugger and NCBWA All-American became Florida’s
first-ever Dick Howser Trophy recipient last week and is a finalist for the
Golden Spikes Award and the Johnny Bench Award. He finished as the Gators’
“Triple Crown” winner, leading the team in batting average (.322), RBI (67) and
homers (19), and paced the Orange and Blue in total bases (164), doubles (28), sacrifice
flies (11) and slugging percentage (.669). He was also 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, Zunino registered a .994 fielding percentage, with
three errors in 510 chances, and threw out 20 runners who 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 Gators 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 was 8-for-25 (.320) during the NCAA
Tourney with team highs in slugging percentage (.720), RBI (12) and homers (3).
Tucker achieved All-America status for the
second-consecutive season after hitting .321 with 57 runs, 50 RBI, 35 walks, 17
doubles and 16 round-trippers in his final collegiate campaign. The
seventh-round selection of the Houston Astros departs Gainesville as the
school’s all-time leader in games played (265), games started (259), total
bases (596), at bats (1,035), hits (341), RBI (258) and doubles (70).
Tucker was a first-team All-SEC selection in
2012 after being a first-team choice last season and a second-team pick in
2010. He was the 2009 SEC Co-Freshman of the Year with LSU’s Matty Ott. Tucker
powered UF’s offense this month with a .393 (11-for-28) performance in NCAA
play and became the first Gator to achieve Regional All-Tournament status all
four years of his career. He is the lone UF player to earn Most Outstanding
Player recognition twice (2009 & 2011). In 30
career NCAA Tourney games, Tucker batted .368 (46-for-125) and holds school
records in career at bats (125), hits (46), RBI (31), runs (29), homers (11)
and doubles (10).
