The ball has been looking bigger to Preston Tucker lately, and he made the ball appear smaller to Central Florida's pitchers Tuesday.
After a walk and a groundout in his first two plate appearances, he started his record-setting night with a grand slam to right, putting the Gators ahead 5-3 in the fifth. That wasn't enough for him, as he added a 3-run blast to left field that put the game out of reach. And he still wasn't done.
When Tucker walked to the plate with the bases loaded in the seventh, he didn't disappoint. This time, he sent the ball over the center-field fence for his second grand slam of the game.
The two grand slams by Tucker marked only the third time the feat had been accomplished by a Southeastern Conference player, and it was the first time it has happened since 1987.
The Gators (21-11) cruised to beat the Knights 16-3 on Tuesday night behind Tucker's bat in McKethan Stadium.
"It looks like I'm seeing a beach ball coming at me," Tucker said.
The three-homer night is just the latest in a series of huge offensive performances from the freshman slugger.
In the last five games, Tucker has hit 14 for 21 with six home runs and 23 RBIs.
The recent power surge from the lefty first baseman has provided UF's lineup with the pop it has been lacking all season. The rest of the team has only hit 19 home runs compared to his 7, and no other player has more than 30 RBIs on the season. The closest player to him is Avery Barnes with 26 RBIs, just three more than Tucker had in the last five games and 13 fewer than Tucker's season total.
Tucker also made it into UF's record books with his 11 RBIs, breaking Barnes' school record of 10.
"In order to be a good team, you got to pitch and play defense, but you got to have a well-rounded lineup," UF coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "To be able to hit the ball out, you feel like you can come back from a 3-run deficit with one swing of the bat."
To keep his hot bat going, O'Sullivan plans to motivate Tucker by continuing to push him in practice and in his books.
"We'll keep ribbing at him a bit to make sure he stays grounded, and I'll make sure to get on him about his study hall hours," O'Sullivan said.
Tucker's onslaught allowed O'Sullivan to give some lesser used pitchers a chance to throw. O'Sullivan got to see Kevin Chapman, Will Jolin, Lee Reumann and Chas Spottswood in a low-pressure situation on the mound. The four relievers had combined for only 15 appearances before Tuesday, and it was the first appearance for Reumann, a walk-on freshman.
The innings thrown by the rarely used pitchers filled the pitches usually taken up by Tony Davis and Billy Bullock, allowing them to get rest heading into UF's weekend series at Auburn.
O'Sullivan did use Anthony DeSclafani, who is often called on in late innings, for 2 1/3 innings to get the win.
"I think (DeSclafani) is a key to our staff right now," O'Sullivan said. "He's started, (and) he's come out of the pen. I feel confident pitching him at the start of the game, the end of the game or in middle relief."
