SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – UC Santa Barbara right-handers Dillon Tate and Shane Bieber turned in spectacular performances in the first starts of their career and season, respectively, as the No. 16 Gauchos won both ends of a doubleheader against BYU on Saturday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, taking the opener 6-0 before besting the Cougars 3-1 in the nightcap.

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 coach to reach that mark with the program behind Al Ferrer. This is the first time in his tenure that the Gauchos have won their first three out of the gate, continuing a tradition of hot starts following last year 18-3 stretch to open the campaign.

Filling in for Domenic Mazza, Tate could not have asked for a much better debut in a starter's role. Tate had been penciled in as the team's closer after an offseason of uncertainty about what his role would be. The Claremont, Calif. native clearly showed that he was comfortable out of the bullpen however, mowing through the BYU lineup in 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 centerfielder Andrew Calica both had standout days. Over the two games, Kelly led the team with four hits in nine at-bats while Calica reached base seven times.

After taking Sunday off, UCSB and BYU will conclude their four-game series on Monday afternoon with a 1:00 p.m. contest.

Game One Recap

Excitement was riding high around Caesar Uyesaka Stadium as UCSB's All-American closer Dillon Tate readied to make his first career start.

Things started off a little shaky for Tate, who allowed singles to two of the first three BYU batters. With plenty of experience in putting out fires as one of the top relievers in the nation in 2014, Tate pitched himself out of the jam 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 inning ending, three-pitch punchout.

That was pretty much all the offense the Cougars could muster against Tate, who really settled in after the first inning escape act. He would go on to allow just one hit the rest of the way, finishing with a line of 6 2/3 innings pitched, no runs, three hits, two walks, and eight strikeouts. He straight up dominated his opposition after the first three batters of the initial frame, ending the first four innings with strikeouts and earning at least one punchout in six of the seven innings he appeared in.

Meanwhile, the UCSB offense repeated their success from Opening Day, getting on the board early to give their starter room to breathe.

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 sac 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 RBI 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.

Having reached his pitch count of 90 midway through the seventh inning, Tate was lifted for freshman Kyle Nelson, receiving a hearty round of applause from the crowd and a warm welcome from his teammates in the dugout.

Nelson impressed in his collegiate debut, allowing just a single hit with one strikeout in 2 1/3 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.

Game Two Recap

Thanks to strong performances from each team's starting pitcher, the nightcap became the first close contest of the series to date.

Bieber was far and away the player of the game for UCSB, tallying a new career-high nine strikeouts while matching the longest outing of his career at eight innings. The Laguna Hills, Calif. native was remarkably efficient, throwing 65 of his 90 pitches for strikes with just one base on balls allowed.

Like Tate, Bieber allowed just three hits in the tilt. He opened the game by retiring nine straight, then allowed his only run of the game in the fourth on a Robinson RBI single after the first two batters of the frame had reached. With two on and a run in, the Cougars had a chance to rally, but Bieber nipped that at the bud by striking out the next two batters after the RBI single, ending the inning by getting Cole Wilstead to offer at a breaking ball in the dirt for strike three.

Bieber's performance made up for a UCSB offense that had trouble coming up with a big hit in the nightcap, as the squad left 12 runners on base in its eight turns at bat.

Still, 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.

As in game one, a UCSB newcomer made a good first impression while shutting the door. Junior righty James Carter, the all-time winnigest pitcher in Chabot College history, retired three of the four batters he faced. After a routine groundout and weak flyout to right, Colton Shaver couldn't check his swing as he offered at a tailing slider to end the game and give Carter his first collegiate save.