SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — It is unanimous. UC Santa Barbara Baseball star Jackson Flora earned a spot on the D1Baseball All-America First Team on Thursday, making him one of only nine players and one of just three pitchers to receive First Team All-America honors from each of the six generally recognized selectors this season. Thursday's D1Baseball selection is the final stone in Flora's gauntlet, with the College Baseball Foundation, Baseball America, the American Baseball Coaches' Association, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and Perfect Game all previously honoring the Gauchos' strikeout king.
 
Flora's statistical resume has grabbed headlines all season. He was The Big West Pitcher of the Week after twirling a gem at then-No. 20 Southern Miss to hand the Golden Eagles their first loss on Opening Day since 2014. Across March and April, he strung together 38 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing a run. That streak included a second complete game shutout of Cal Poly in as many years, after which he picked up National Player of the Week honors to go along with a second Big West Pitcher of the Week nod. For his curtain call at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, he pitched another CGSO, entering rare air as just the fifth Gaucho to throw at least two in one season and one of only four Gauchos with at least three CGSOs in their career. He was as sharp as expected in the postseason too, delivering a pair of seven-inning, one-run outings in The Big West Championship and NCAA Austin Regional. In the latter of those two, he broke Santa Barbara's single-season strikeout record, running his total up to 133. That number was good for third in the country as of regional weekend, as was his 0.85 WHIP. But the headline stat was always Flora's ERA. At no point did it exceed 1.50, something that cannot be said for any other qualified Division I pitcher, making it no surprise that he finished the year with the country's best ERA, at 1.06.
 
Combine those mind-boggling figures with everything else — Flora's 6-foot-5 frame, his shortstop-like athleticism and fielding, his 100-mph fastball and his relentless competitive drive — and it becomes obvious why the kid from Pleasanton is projected to be the first pitcher taken in this summer's Major League Baseball Draft. While his name appears higher up on the strikeout list than any of his predecessors, Flora is nothing new in the world of Gaucho Baseball. Since Andrew Checketts' arrival in 2012, 11 Santa Barbara pitchers have earned All-America honors, with five of them earning multiple awards in a single season. Two of them before Flora were the first pitcher taken in their respective drafts: Dillon Tate in 2015 (fourth overall) and Tyler Bremner in 2025 (second overall).
 
"It all starts with the culture we built at Santa Barbara, of guys working hard all the time," Flora told MLB Network at the MLB Draft Combine on Wednesday. "There's a lot of respect for the coaches, for Coach (Dylan) Jones and Coach Checketts, that pitchers realize how knowledgeable they are and how much they can help them, that they listen and they do the work. Everything is very individualistic, they're not cookie-cutter-ing guys, trying to turn everybody into the same pitcher, and it's pitching to your strengths, making your strengths better and giving you the knowledge and the opportunity to help yourself and go make yourself better."