Tucker Drafted In The 11th Round By Atlanta
June 03, 2003 | Baseball
In four seasons at East Carolina, Tucker posted an 11-7 record with eight saves to go along with a 3.56 earned run average. He made an ECU record 83 relief appearances during his career and 88 overall appearances, which ranks as second most in school history. In 197 innings pitched, he struck out 170 batters and walked just 54.
At the 2003 NCAA Atlanta Regional, Tucker shut out seventh-ranked Georgia Tech, the tournament's overall No. 3 seed, over the final 8.1 innings. Although he didn't start the game, he did manage to strike out six batters and walk just one in front of a large contingent of Yellow Jacket supporters to earn all-regional honors.
Tucker, a native of Tavernier, Fla., had a similar performance earlier in the season, holding nationally-ranked Southern Miss scoreless in eight innings of relief and to a mere three hits. He struck out a career-best seven and earned Conference USA Player of the Week honors for his performance.
As a sophomore in 2001, Tucker made a career-high 27 appearances, which still ranks as the third most single season appearances in Pirate baseball history. He made just 10 appearances as a freshman, but has pitched in 24 or more games each of the past three seasons.
