UCSB Baseball ace Jackson Flora was awarded the 2026 Perfect Game College Pitcher of the Year award on Tuesday to commemorate his jaw-dropping junior season.
The right-hander, who is projected to be a top-five pick in the 2026 MLB Draft in July, is the first Gaucho to ever win the Perfect Game Pitcher of the Year award, and it was well deserved.
Flora led the nation with an eye-popping 1.06 ERA, the best mark by any UCSB pitcher in the program’s Division-I history. He also went 12-0 and set a new program record for strikeouts in a season with 133.
It was arguably the most dominant pitching season Isla Vista has ever seen, as Flora pitched at least five innings and allowed two runs or fewer in 15 of his 16 starts. On top of this, he twirled 38 â…“ consecutive scoreless innings at one point and his ERA was never higher than 1.50.
Flora led the Gauchos to a 40-20 overall record and a share of the regular season BigWest title. He also helped them reach the Austin Regional Final, tossing 7 â…” innings of one-run ball and striking out nine in his lone start against Holy Cross.
As it is expected that Flora will head to the professional ranks this summer, he would leave the UCSB program with the second-most career wins (21), third-most career strikeouts (259) and third-best career ERA (2.49).
Should Flora be the top pitcher taken in the Draft, which he is widely projected to be, it would be the second straight season the Gauchos have the first arm selected after Tyler Bremner was taken No. 2 overall by the Angels last season.