UC Santa Barbara pitcher Jackson Flora delivered a dominant performance Thursday night in what may have been his final appearance at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, throwing a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 victory over UC Riverside in the opening game of a three-game Big West series.
Flora, who is projected to be among the top selections in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft, carried a perfect game into the eighth inning before surrendering a leadoff ground-rule double. The right-hander finished with a two-hit shutout, striking out 12 batters and walking none as the Gauchos improved to 35-16 overall and 20-8 in conference play.
UC Riverside fell to 15-35 overall and 10-18 in the Big West.
The only run of the game came in the third inning when catcher Nate Vargas hit a solo home run that struck the top of the video board in right field.
Flora’s outing marked his second complete-game shutout of the season and the third of his collegiate career. According to UC Santa Barbara records, he became the sixth pitcher in program history to record at least three career complete-game shutouts.
The performance also lowered Flora’s earned run average to 1.03, the lowest in Division I baseball this season. His 12 strikeouts tied a career high and increased his season total to 115, tying him for the fourth-highest single-season strikeout total in program history.
After the game, Flora reflected on the possibility that the outing was his final home start.
“Today was probably my last start in this stadium, so I was trying not to think too much and go out there and compete,” Flora said.
UC Santa Barbara will continue the series against UC Riverside on Friday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. The Gauchos remain in contention for the No. 1 seed in next week’s Big West Championship tournament in Irvine.
