COLLEGE BASEBALL NEWS

COLLEGE BASEBALL NOTEBOOK: FLORA IS ON TRACK TO BE 3RD UCSB PITCHER DRAFTED IN 1ST ROUND SINCE 2021

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.

HCAC 2026 BASEBALL NOTEBOOK, WEEK 7

Athletes of the Week:
Player of the Week:
Griffin Wolf (Carmel, Ind.) Anderson University | First Base | Senior – Griffin Wolf tied the single-game school record with eight RBI in game one against Mount St. Joseph. Wolf went 7-for-13 with two doubles, a home run, and 11 RBI as Anderson went 2-1 last week. He racked up a .538 batting average, a .600 on-base percentage, and a .923 slugging percentage.

Pitcher of the Week:
Drew Bowles (Lexington, Ky.) Transylvania University | Pitcher | Junior – Drew Bowles delivered a strong outing on the mound in a 19–0 win over Berea, tossing five innings while allowing just two hits and two walks, and striking out eight. He continues to lead the conference with a 2.14 ERA.

Notable Performances:

• Rhet Heckman (Spencer, Ind.) Anderson University | Pitcher | Freshman – Rhet Heckman recorded a seven-inning complete-game win against Mount St. Joseph. He posted a 1.29 ERA, a 1.29 WHIP, and a .240 opponent batting average. Heckman struck out five batters, issued three walks, and allowed one run on six hits.
• Ayden Spriggs (North Lewisburg, Ohio) Bluffton University | Third Base | Senior – Ayden Spriggs hit .417 with two RBI and four runs scored in three games for Bluffton. He also drew three walks and slugged .750, thanks to a home run and a double.
• Jayce Emmitt (Columbus, Ind.) Bluffton University | Pitcher | Freshman – Jayce Emmitt did not allow any runs in 2 2/3 innings of relief across two appearances over the weekend. He struck out two and held opponents to a .222 batting average.
• Noah Wagster (Fairfield, Ohio) Earlham College | Infield | Sophomore – Noah Wagster had a strong week at the plate, helping Earlham sweep Bluffton to take the top spot in the HCAC standings. The sophomore infielder went 9-for-14 with three runs scored and two RBI. Wagster posed a problem for opposing pitching on the basepaths, going 6-for-6 on steal attempts.
• Cayman Huntsman (Lebanon, Ind.) Earlham College | Pitcher | Junior – Cayman Huntsman earned a win over Bluffton this weekend, tossing 5 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Huntsman allowed just five hits in the outing.
• Alex Billman (Fishers, Ind.) Franklin College | Catcher | Sophomore – Alex Billman was rock solid at the plate and behind it during a doubleheader split with Manchester at Kokomo. In game one, he went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI, one of those on a bases-loaded walk that put the go-ahead run on base in the top of the ninth inning. Billman added two more hits as the Grizzlies won the nightcap, hitting an RBI double and scoring a run.
• John Girard (Richmond, Ky.) Hanover College | Pitcher | Senior – John Girard led Hanover to a 9-7 victory in game one against Rose-Hulman. The senior pitched six complete innings allowing just one earned run on seven hits. He added four strikeouts, throwing just 90 pitches through six.
• Jack Shaeffer (West Lafayette, Ind.) Hanover College | Pitcher | Freshman – Jack Shaeffer was clutch at the plate for Hanover as it claimed game one against Rose-Hulman, 9-7. The first-year went 2-for-4 with four RBI and two home runs. He added a clutch home run in the eighth inning that ultimately became the game’s final run.
• Joel Kennedy (Mooreland, Ind.) Manchester University | Designated Hitter/First Base | Senior – Joel Kennedy had a productive weekend against Franklin. Kennedy went 3-for-8 at the plate, smashing two home runs and drove in four RBI.
• Andrew Clements (New Albany, Ind.) Mount St. Joseph University | Designated Hitter/First Base | Senior – Andrew Clements had a big series against Anderson this weekend. For the series he was 5-for-8 with two runs scored, a double, a triple, and two walks. For the weekend his on-base percentage was .727.
• Nolan Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio) Mount St. Joseph University | Pitcher | Junior – Nolan Miller pitched eight innings, allowing only five hits and one earned run, while striking out seven against Anderson. After a 45 minute lightning delay during the seventh inning, he returned to pitch a perfect eighth to keep the Lions in the game. 
• Jackson Harms (Irving, Texas) Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Outfield | Sophomore – Jackson Harms hit 2-4 at the plate in Rose-Hulman’s 9-7 loss to Hanover. He matched his season-high with four RBI, while recording one run, one double, and one home run.
• Chris Hedinger (Jasper, Ind.) Transylvania University | Outfield | Junior – Chris Hedinger put together a strong week at the plate for Transylvania. Against Spalding, Hedinger went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, four RBI, and a home run. He followed in the Berea doubleheader by drawing a walk and scoring a run in game one, before going 3-for-4 with two runs, three RBI, and a double in game two.

UCLA AND MICHIGAN HONORED WITH BASEBALL WEEKLY AWARDS

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference has announced its baseball weekly awards for games played March 31-April 5, 2026.

Player of the Week
Payton Brennan, UCLA
R-Jr. – OF – Rocklin, Calif. – Rocklin HS

• Powered No. 1-ranked UCLA to a weekend sweep of No. 7 USC, extending the Bruins’ winning streak to a school-record 23 games
• Slashed .556/.619/.778 with five runs scored, a home run, and seven RBI
• Produced three hits in three consecutive games against the Trojans
• Made two stellar defensive plays in right field, robbing a home run with a leaping catch against the wall on Saturday followed by a full-extension diving catch on Sunday
• Is the third Bruin to capture Big Ten Player of the Week honors this season

Pitcher of the Week
Shane Brinham, Michigan
Fr. – S-LHP – North Vancouver, B.C. – Handsworth Secondary School

• Tossed a complete-game shutout against No. 10 Oregon on Thursday
• Struck out a career-high seven batters and didn’t issue a walk over seven innings; surrendered three hits
• Retired 16-straight batters from the first to the sixth inning
• Did not allow an Oregon baserunner to advance beyond first base
• Last Wolverine named Pitcher of the Week: Tate Carey (April 14, 2025)

Freshman of the Week
Zach Strickland, UCLA
Fr. – R-RHP – Arcadia, Calif. – Maranatha HS

• Made three scoreless appearances in relief, helping the Bruins to a 4-0 record
• Tossed 5.1 shutout innings, giving up one hit against 19 batters faced
• Struck out seven batters and held opponents to a 0.59 batting average
• Recorded a win and a save in leading UCLA to its fifth-straight conference series sweep, a first for the program
• Becomes UCLA’s first-ever recipient of the Big Ten Freshman of the Week Award

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