Flora is on track to be 3rd UCSB pitcher drafted in 1st round since '21

Jackson Flora of UC Santa Barbara is on a heater, and we're not talking about his fastball that averages better than 96 mph and tops out at over 100. Flora has pitched 34 consecutive shutout innings over five starts and is third in the nation with an 0.83 ERA. His latest outing was his best of the season, a four-hit shutout in a 6-0 victory over Cal Poly last Thursday. At 6-0, he has matched his 2025 win total. "He's put it together," UCSB coach Andrew Checketts said Monday. "We've known since he got here what a special arm it was and what a special athlete he was. He's a competitive kid. There was rawness to his game when he got here, but he's continued to grow and improve and developed his pitches." The junior right-hander is Baseball America's top college pitching prospect for the Major League Baseball amateur draft and is in line to become the Gauchos' second pitcher in two years to be taken in the first round and third since 2021. Tyler Bremner was the No. 2 overall pick last year, by the Angels, and Michael McGreevy was taken No. 18 by the Cardinals in 2021. Checketts also developed a first-round pick in Dillon Tate in 2015 and 2020 Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber, a fourth-rounder in 2016. Flora, in addition to his fastball, throws a sweeper and hard slider and in the preseason developed a kick changeup, which sinks more than a straight changeup and has been especially effective against left-handed batters. Flora originally committed to Loyola Marymount out of Pleasanton, California. He reopened his recruitment following a coaching change at LMU in 2023. At the time, he was dating the sister of then-UCSB ace Matt Ager. "So we at least had somebody vouching for us," Checketts said. "That helps. She wasn't going to school here and they've broken up since. I think that gave us a voice when he was on the market, that he could trust us." In the polls Consensus No. 1 UCLA took three from nationally ranked rival Southern California to extend its winning streak to a program-record 23 games. The Bruins have swept five Big Ten Conference opponents, a first for the program. Up next are a Tuesday game at Cal State Fullerton and three this weekend at Rutgers. Texas and Georgia Tech are behind UCLA in the D1Baseball.com and Baseball America rankings for the fourth straight week. The Longhorns (26-5) took two of three at South Carolina for their fourth straight Southeastern Conference series win. The Yellow Jackets (26-5) opened a 4-0 week with a run-rule win over Auburn and then swept California on the road. Cade Kaboom! LSU's Cade Arrambide set a school record with four home runs in the Tigers' 16-6, 12-inning win at Tennessee on Sunday. His grand slam highlighted a 10-run 12th. He was the first player to go deep four times since Justin Osterhouse of Purdue Fort Wayne did it against Wright State last May. Jayhawks on the rise Kansas (22-10) has won six straight and 12 of 14 after sweeping Utah. The Jayhawks have won three straight Big 12 series and matched their best start in conference play at 12-3, and they've scored at least 10 runs in five straight games for the first time since 2011. With 52 runs in four games (13.0 average), they were the highest-scoring power-conference team last week. KU has 16 come-from-behind wins, none bigger than the 14-12 walk-off against the Utes on Thursday. The Jayhawks homered four times in the bottom of the ninth inning, capped by Tyson LeBlanc's game winner. Cleanup spot Nebraska, ranked as high as No. 19, has won 21 of its last 22 games. The Cornhuskers swept Penn State and are 11-1 in Big Ten play, their best conference start since they opened 10-1-1 in the Big 12 in 2008. At 22-6, they've matched their best 32-game start. ... Mississippi won two of three at Florida despite scoring no runs in 20 consecutive innings. The Rebels scored in the sixth inning of Thursday's 6-4 win, lost 2-0 Friday and scored all of their runs in the ninth inning of Saturday's 5-2 win. ... Bowling Green's Alex Laird stole a MAC-record seven bases, including home, in a 9-6 win over Akron on Friday. ___ AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports