SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Interstat) — UC Santa Barbara Gauchos pitcher Jackson Flora threw a complete-game two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts Thursday afternoon, leading the Gauchos to a 1-0 victory over the UC Riverside Highlanders in a Big West Conference game at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.

The game was a taut pitchers’ duel between Flora and UC Riverside starter Joshua Torres. Torres allowed only one hit over eight innings — a solo home run by Gauchos catcher Nate Vargas in the third inning — but that proved to be the decisive blow. Vargas, batting cleanup, connected on a pitch and drove it over the fence for the game’s only run. He finished 2 for 4, adding a single in the eighth inning.

Torres struck out two, walked four and hit one batter. After the Vargas homer, he retired the next 10 batters in order from the fourth through the sixth innings. The left-hander worked around a leadoff walk and a hit-by-pitch in the fourth inning, then escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second inning when he induced a popout.

Flora, meanwhile, was in command from the first pitch. He faced the minimum through four innings and allowed only two runners to reach scoring position the entire game. The right-hander struck out 12 batters, walked none and threw 101 pitches. He retired the side in order in the first, third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

UC Riverside’s best scoring chance came in the eighth inning. Third baseman Jarren Sanderson led off with a ground-rule double. After a bunt popout, center fielder Jaxon Byrd singled up the middle, moving Sanderson to third. Flora then struck out pinch hitter Andrew Rivas looking and got pinch hitter Esteban Sepulveda to line out to left field, ending the threat.

Sanderson had one of UC Riverside’s two hits; Byrd had the other. The Highlanders struck out 14 times as a team, with Flora accounting for 12 of those. Catcher David Whittle went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, and first baseman David Gibbs grounded out in three of his four plate appearances.

UC Santa Barbara’s defense backed Flora with two sacrifice bunts. Second baseman Cade Goldstein executed a sacrifice bunt in the second inning to advance a runner to second. Center fielder Rowan Kelly also laid down a sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning to move Vargas into scoring position. Kelly went 1 for 2 with a single and the sacrifice.

The Gauchos improved to 35-16 overall, winning their second straight game after a loss to California Baptist earlier in the week. They have won seven of their last nine contests. The Highlanders fell to 15-32, dropping their seventh consecutive game. UC Riverside entered the game reeling from a three-game sweep at home against UC Irvine the previous weekend, in which they were outscored 35-13.

The two teams are scheduled to meet again Friday and Saturday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of UC Santa Barbara 6, UC Riverside 4, and the Interstat ELO system gave the Gauchos a 91.50 percent probability of winning before the game.