UCSB’s Dillon Tate
UC Santa Barbara junior right-handed pitcher Dillon Tate has been named a Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American, it was announced by Collegiate Baseball on Friday morning morning.
Tate, a 6-2 flamethrower, was named to the Second Team as a reliever. He was one of five Big West players among the top two teams, and one of six overall. He becomes the first Gaucho to attain Preseason All-America status since Brandon Trinkwon and Andrew Vasquez in 2012-13.
“Dillon was a rock for us at the back end of the bullpen last year, and being named to this team is indicative of the level of success he had,” said UCSB head coach Andrew Checketts. “Even though he set the bar high for himself, with an offseason of hard work and a stint with the US National Team, we expect him to again be a major contributor to our pitching staff.”
As a sophomore in 2014, he went 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA, 12 saves, 46 strikeouts, 17 walks, seven earned runs against, a .205 BAA, and 32 hits against in 43.1 innings pitched over 28 appearances. He then went on to record a 0.79 ERA in 11 appearances for the prestigious US Collegiate National Team over the summer.
His dozen saves are the second most in UCSB single-season history, and he needs just five more to become the program’s career leader in the stat. The oft-used righty had an ERA under 1.00 until the penultimate game of the season, and would have recorded the second-lowest ERA in school history if he had pitched the 6.2 extra innings needed to qualify.
Tate’s superlative season led to selections to the All-Big West Second Team and NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watchlist, awarded annually to the top relief pitcher in collegiate baseball.
The Claremont, Calif. native was joined on the Louisville Slugger All-America Team by Cal State Fullerton right-handed starters Thomas Eshelman and Justin Garza, Cal Poly righty Casey Bloomquist and second baseman Mark Mathias, and UC Irvine closer Sam Moore.
To view the entire 2015 Louisville Slugger All-America Team, click here.
Dillon and the UCSB baseball team will open the new campaign on Friday, Feb. 13 with a series against WCC foe Brigham Young University.
