OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — For the second time this week, Jackson Flora has been crowned the 2026 Pitcher of the Year. The College Baseball Foundation announced UC Santa Barbara Baseball's star pitcher as the recipient of its 2026 National Pitcher of the Year award on Saturday, during a press conference at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
 
"In a season with many excellent pitching performances, Jackson Flora's consistency set him apart," Pitcher of the Year Award chair Brian Melakian said. "Every time he took the mound, he gave the Gauchos a chance to win the game."
 
Santa Barbara won 13 of Flora's 16 starts in 2026, and Flora himself was never beaten, finishing the season with a 12-0 record to lead the nation in total victories. Those 12 wins are the second-most in program history and the most since Dan Yokubaitis won 14 games in 1983. The zero losses make Flora just the second Gaucho pitcher to collect double-digit victories without defeat in a single season, after Mike Gutierrez's 10-0 campaign in 2024. Flora also led the nation in hits allowed per nine innings and ERA, setting the program's single-season Division I record in the latter category with a mark of 1.06. Even more remarkably, Flora's ERA never exceeded 1.50 at any point in 2026.
 
 "We're obviously proud of Jackson earning this award, but it is also not a surprise when you know what kind of player and person he is," UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Andrew Checketts said. "Jackson has an infectious competitiveness and drive to win that makes him fun to coach every day. It also makes him a great leader on our team, someone who sets the standard in the dugout and gives us a chance to win every time he is on the mound. He represents the best of our game, pairing elite skill with toughness and grit. He is a deserving recipient of this award."
 
Flora's 2026 campaign is the culmination of a five-year journey; through his sophomore year in high school, he was primarily a shortstop, but as he struggled to match his batting with his impressive arm and athleticism, his coaches tried deploying the cannon attached to Flora's right shoulder from the mound. It worked out. After two years as a high-school pitcher, Flora arrived in Santa Barbara for the 2024 season and immediately became a key piece of the Gauchos' arsenal, earning an All-Big West Honorable Mention and pitching in three of the Gauchos' four games in the NCAA Santa Barbara Regional as a freshman. He became a starter and an All-Big West First Team selection in 2025 and earned a USA Baseball Collegiate National Team invite. The rest, as they say, is history.
 
"Winning this award means a lot to me and my family!" Flora said. "To be able to represent my family and my team on the biggest stage is something that I work hard to do every single day. I want to thank my coaches, who have helped me so much to develop into the pitcher that I am today, and my teammates who have my back no matter what. I am only one of nine guys on the field at a time; I didn't strike everyone out this year, it's easy to pitch when you have as much trust in your team and coaches as I do."
 
It would be easy to call Flora's thanking of his defense humility (or burying the lede), considering he struck out more batters this season than any Gaucho before, a program-record 133, but some of his signature moments this season were a team effort. There was Cade Goldstein's glove flip during Santa Barbara's opening-day win at Southern Miss and Nate Vargas' heads-up bunt defense during Flora's seven shutout innings of Hawai'i. That outing against the Warriors was part of Flora's 38 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings streak from March 6 to April 10, the longest verifiable streak in program history. Then there was the collection of web gems from Liam Barrett and Corey Nunez in Flora's complete game shutout against UC Riverside, almost certainly his final appearance at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. That was his second CGSO of the season and third of his career. Only four Gauchos have more in one season and only three have more in their career.
 
"Most of all, I'd like to thank my family," Flora said. "My mom and dad are my biggest supporters in failure and in success and I can't thank them enough for it. My brother and sister text me before every game showing their support. When you have a family like I do, failure becomes much easier to deal with because I don't do it alone. And in a game full of failure, that makes the biggest difference. They give me reasons to play this game."

And Flora will have plenty of opportunity to continue playing this game at the next level. Five years after moving from shortstop to the mound, Flora is projected to be the first pitcher taken in this summer's Major League Baseball Draft. Should that happen, it will be the second year in a row and third in the last 10 full drafts that a Gaucho pitcher is the first arm off the board, joining Tyler Bremner in 2025 and Dillon Tate in 2015.
 
The College Baseball Foundation is a non-profit whose purpose is to preserve and recognize the history of college baseball, to elevate and advance the game and to inspire the next generation of players and fans. They operate the College Baseball Hall of Fame and have been bestowing their National Pitcher of the Year Award since 2009. Flora joins a list of recipients that includes Stephen Strasburg, Aaron Nola and Paul Skenes.