Preston Tucker continued to add to his freshman-season honors on Tuesday when he was named the 2009 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Freshman Hitter of the Year. 

He is the first Gator ever to receive the honor.

The award is added to a long list of postseason accolades, including: SEC Co-Freshman of the Year and a Freshman All-American selection by Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA, Tucker was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Gainesville Regional, collected All-SEC Tournament Team recognition and was a unanimous choice on the SEC’s All-Freshman squad.

Tucker led the Gators in batting average (.364), runs batted in (85) and home runs (15). His total of 85 RBI was a single-season school record and eclipsed the previous mark of 80 set by Ryan Shealy in 2002. The Tampa native also led Florida in slugging percentage (.628), multiple-hit (27) and multiple-RBI games (23), as well as total bases (152). He was the runner-up in hits (88) and doubles (13) and recorded a .992 fielding percentage.