Flora authors a masterpiece in likely final home start at UCSB
UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - UCSB ace pitcher Jackson Flora gave the Gauchos home fans one final thrill on the mound.
The junior star pitched a complete game 2-hit shutout and tied his career-high with 12 strikeouts in a 1-0 victory over UC Riverside.
His catcher Nate Vargas provided the only run with a tape-measure solo home run in the third inning that hit the top of the video board in right field.
(Vargas shares the team lead with 8 home runs. Entenza Design).
But this game was all about Jackson Flora who improved to 10-0 and lowered his nation-leading earned run average to 1.03 on the season.
Flora had a perfect game through 7 innings before Riverside doubled and and had an infield single in the eighth inning.
"Everything felt good, you know," Flora said. "Today was probably my last start in this stadium, so I was trying not to think too much and go out there and compete, pitch with some emotion and fight for my guys, and it was really fun."
"Everybody kind of knew what was going on late in the game, and it does creep into your mind a little bit, but being able to take it one out at a time and flush good pitches and bad pitches and just move on to the next pitch was really important for me today."
He is widely predicted to be the first pitcher selected in this summer's Major League Baseball Draft.
Earlier in the day Flora was named a semifinalist for two prestigious awards: USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award, which honors the top amateur baseball player in the country each year, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Dick Howser Trophy, which honors the top college baseball player each year and is regarded as the sport's equivalent of college football's Heisman Trophy.
With the win the Gauchos remain tied for first place in the Big West standings with Cal Poly at 20-8 with two leagues games remaining.
UCSB (35-16) hosts Riverside on Friday at 4:35 p.m. and on Saturday for Senior Day with first pitch at 1:05 p.m.
(UCSB Athletics provided the quotes for this story).
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