UCSB Baseball ace Jackson Flora put the nation on notice on Friday, leading his team to a 5-1 season-opening win over No. 20 Southern Mississippi at Warren Turner Field.
The Baseball America and Perfect Game Preseason All-American fired six shutout frames to earn the victory, allowing just three hits and striking out five along the way.
The Gauchos wasted no time plating their first run of the season as Nick Husovsky drove in Rowan Kelly on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead.
UCSB tripled its lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning when Noah Karliner singled into right-center field to bring home Jonathan Mendez and Xavier Esquer.
Meanwhile, Flora continued to cruise, and Raymond Olivas tossed a scoreless inning in relief to keep the 3-0 advantage into the eighth inning.
Southern Miss trimmed that lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth on a leadoff solo home run by Kyle Morrison off Olivas.
After a single by the Eagles, San Marcos alum Chase Hoover took over on the mound and got a double play and a strikeout to end the inning and keep the UCSB lead at 3-1.
The Gauchos got some two-out insurance in the top of the ninth when Kelly blasted a two-run homer over the centerfield wall, bringing the lead to 5-1 heading into the bottom half.
Hoover went back to work and slammed the door on Southern Miss with a scoreless frame for the two-inning save and the Gaucho victory.
Rowan, Cade Goldstein and Cole Kosciusko each went 2-for-4 as the top three batters in the UCSB lineup, while Esquer also went 2-for-4 and scored twice.
The Gauchos and Eagles will clash for game two of the three-game set on Saturday at 10 a.m.