17-11, 10-3
UC Santa Barbara
17-10, 6-4
Mustangs Kept Off Scoreboard in Blue-Green Series Opener
4/2/2026 11:00:00 PM | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Jackson Flora pitched a complete-game four-hit shutout as UC Santa Barbara opened the annual Blue-Green Rivalry baseball series with a 6-0 victory over Cal Poly on Thursday night inside Baggett Stadium.
Flora, the junior right-hander who also went the distance against the Mustangs a year ago at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, struck out nine and walked two to improve to 6-0 for the season, throwing 118 pitches.
The visiting Gauchos broke open a scoreless game with five runs in the fourth inning and added a solo run in the eighth to improve to 17-10 overall and 6-4 in Big West contests. UCSB entered Thursday's game having lost eight of its last 10 games.
Cal Poly, which has now lost four of its last seven after compiling a 10-game winning streak, fell to 17-11 and 10-3. The Mustangs slipped into second place as UC San Diego moved in front in the Big West by a half-game, rallying from 5-1 and 9-7 deficits to beat Hawai'i 10-9 on Thursday in La Jolla, improving their conference mark to 9-1.
Cal Poly had some scoring chances early in the game, wasting a one-out double by Braxton Thomas in the second inning, had runners at second and third with two outs in the third frame and could not take advantage of a leadoff double by Antonio Castro in the fifth.
Flora seemed to gain strength from that point on, retiring the last 15 Mustang batters of the game. His only other career complete game was in April 2025, also against Cal Poly, as Flora threw a one-hit shutout with one walk and nine strikeouts in a 126-pitch 4-0 triumph.
Flora also earned a one-inning save against Cal Poly in 2024 at Baggett Stadium, allowing one unearned run in a 12-inning 11-10 Gaucho victory. Thus, Flora has not allowed an earned run against the Mustangs in 19 innings over three seasons.
The Gauchos parlayed five hits and three walks into five runs in the fourth, all with one out. Designated hitter Cole Kosciusko singled up the middle to drive in two, catcher Nico Libed doubled into the left-field corner to knock in two more and left fielder Rowan Kelly drew a bases-loaded walk for the final tally.
An RBI double down the right-field line by shortstop Corey Nunez in the eighth inning completed the scoring.
Cal Poly junior right-hander Griffin Naess, who produced no-decisions in his 2024 and 2025 starts against UCSB despite allowing just four runs over 12 innings combined, suffered the loss Thursday as he gave up all five runs in the fourth inning.
Brady Estes (2 2/3 scoreless innings), Troy Cooper (one run over two innings) and Sean McGrath (one scoreless frame) followed Naess to the mound. The foursome combined for nine strikeouts.
Three of Cal Poly's four hits were doubles by Thomas, Castro and Cam Hoiland. Dante Vachini added a single. Casey Murray Jr.'s 17-game hitting streak came to an end as he went 0-for-3 with a walk.
Second game of the series will be played Friday night at 6:05 with Cal Poly freshman right-hander Corden Pettey (2-2, 5.70 ERA) to face UC Santa Barbara sophomore righty Nathan Aceves (2-1, 3.79 ERA).
The series finale Saturday begins at 1:05 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Flora (6-0)
L: Naess, Griffin (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Esquer 1 ; Karliner 1 ; Libed 1 ; Nunez 1
RBI: Kelly 1 ; Kosciusko 2 ; Libed 2 ; Nunez 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Husovsky 1 ; Esquer 1 ; Kosciusko 1 ; Karliner 1 ; Libed 2
Batting:
2B: Hoiland, Cam 1 ; Thomas, Braxton 1 ; Castro, Antonio 1
