Right-handers Dillon Tate and Shane Bieber turned in spectacular performances in the first starts of their collegiate careers, pitching No. 16 UCSB to a doubleheader sweep over BYU on Saturday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The Gauchos won the opener 6-0 and took the nightcap 3-1.
The pair of wins for UCSB (3-0) gave fourth-year head coach Andrew Checketts the 100th victory of his young career. He is the second-fastest to reach that mark with the program behind Al Ferrer.
Tate could not have asked for a much better debut in a starter’s role. He mowed through the BYU lineup, allowing just three hits and striking out eight while pitching into the seventh inning.
As good as Tate was, Bieber arguably may have been better in the nightcap, fanning a career-high nine and keeping UCSB in a close contest by allowing just three hits and a single run.
Offensively, junior first baseman Dalton Kelly and redshirt sophomore center fielder Andrew Calica both had standout days. Kelly led the team with four hits in nine at-bats on the day, while Calica reached base seven times.
After taking Sunday off, UCSB and BYU will conclude their four-game series on Monday afternoon with a 1 p.m. contest.
Tate pitched himself out of the jam in the first inning, using one of his favorite pitches, the slider. With runners on the corners and one down, Tate froze cleanup hitter Dillon Robinson with a backdoor slider, then went back to the breaking ball on three consecutive pitches against Dallen Reber, who swung and missed badly all three times for the third out.
Tate allowed no runs, three hits, two walks, and struck out eight in 6.2 innings.
The UCSB offense repeated their success from Opening Day, getting on the board early.
The Gauchos’ first two batters of the game each reached off BYU starter Hayden Rogers, and then Cougars third baseman Brian Hsu had his throw go into right field attempting to retire Cameron Newell on a sacrifice bunt. Calica, who was at second to start the play, came all the way around to score, while Scott Quinlan was plated by a Robby Nesovic single in the next at-bat.
Nesovic came up big again for UCSB in the third, lining a double off the wall to score Newell, who had led off the inning with a bunt single. Later in the frame, he scored on a Campbell Wear RBI groundout.
With a 4-0 lead and Tate in the zone, the Gauchos cruised from there on out. They would add insurance runs in the fourth and seventh innings.
Nesovic went 3-4 with a pair of RBIs in game one to lead the UCSB lineup, while Newell, Calica, and Kelly all had multi-hit efforts as well.
Bieber allowed just three hits in the nightcap. He opened the game by retiring nine straight, before giving up a Robinson RBI single after the first two batters had reached base in the fourth inning.
The Gauchos scratched out just enough runs to take the win. Nesovic opened the game’s scoring in the third with a run-scoring groundout, his third RBI of the day. After BYU answered right back in the bottom of the fourth, UCSB didn’t break through again until the sixth.
Senior third baseman Peter Maris started that two-run rally by drawing a walk, a mistake which caused BYU head coach Mike Littlewood to pull his starting pitcher, Jeff Barker. The incoming reliever, Mason Marshall, allowed a slash single to Wear before hitting Luke Swenson with a pitch to load the bags.
Andrew Calica then stroked a single into right field for the game-winning hit, while Swenson came around on a passed ball to cap the scoring.
