UC Santa Barbara pitcher Jackson Flora added two major honors to his standout 2025 season on Tuesday, earning Perfect Game’s College Pitcher of the Year award and selection to the ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region First Team.
Flora, a junior right-hander from Pleasanton, became the first player in UC Santa Barbara baseball history to receive Perfect Game’s National Pitcher of the Year award. The recognition follows a season in which he led Division I baseball in earned run average (1.06), wins (12) and hits allowed per nine innings (4.85).
He also set a program single-season record with 133 strikeouts, surpassing Rodney Boone’s previous mark of 128 set in 2020. Flora finished the season with a 0.85 WHIP, ranking among the nation’s leaders in the category.
The All-West Region First Team selection by the American Baseball Coaches Association made Flora eligible for ABCA/Rawlings All-America consideration. He is also one of five finalists for the Dick Howser Trophy and one of 25 semifinalists for USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award. Last week, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association named him District 9 Player of the Year.
Flora’s 1.06 ERA is the lowest recorded by a UC Santa Barbara pitcher since the program joined Division I in 1970. He was one of only two pitchers nationally whose ERA remained below 2.00 from Opening Day through June 1 and the only one whose ERA never rose above 1.50 during that span.
His season included a scoreless streak of 38 1/3 consecutive innings from March 6 through April 10, the longest verifiable streak in program history. During that stretch, Flora recorded one of his three career complete-game shutouts, defeating Cal Poly. He later threw another complete-game shutout against UC Riverside in what was his final home start of the season, carrying a perfect game into the eighth inning.
In 15 of his 16 starts, Flora pitched at least five innings while allowing no more than two runs. He completed the year undefeated with a 12-0 record.
Flora’s accomplishments add to a pitching tradition at UC Santa Barbara that has produced several notable professional prospects, including Tyler Bremner, Michael McGreevy, Dillon Tate and Shane Bieber. Flora currently ranks third in program history with 259 career strikeouts, behind Bremner (295) and Dan Yokubaitis (274).
Flora is widely projected as a potential first-round selection in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft. If he becomes the first pitcher selected, it would mark the second consecutive year a UC Santa Barbara pitcher has held that distinction following Bremner in 2025.
Behind Flora, the Gauchos finished the season 40-20, shared The Big West regular-season championship, earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Austin Regional final. The pitching staff recorded the program’s second-highest strikeout total and one of its top 10 team ERAs in school history.
The ABCA/Rawlings All-America teams are scheduled to be announced June 12.
