In the first College World Series appearance of his career, potential No. 1 overall MLB draft pick [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] didn’t flinch.
Skenes has been practically unbeatable all season, and he was dominant once again while leading the Tigers to a 6-3 win over the Tennessee Volunteers to advance to the winners’ bracket, where it will face No. 1 overall seed Wake Forest.
“It was awesome,” Skenes said regarding the atmosphere in Omaha, per On3. “Everything I could have asked for. Alex Box is pretty cool, but this is pretty cool, too. Awesome experience.”
In 7.2 innings, Skenes tossed 12 strikeouts Saturday night. He didn’t allow a run until the final pitch of his night, an RBI double, and he would be credited with a second earned run allowed after he was pulled.
Still, it was a nearly flawless outing for Skenes, who now has 200 strikeouts on the year and is just two away from tying the single-season program record set by [autotag]Ben McDonald[/autotag] in 1989.
“Just try to stay as relaxed as possible,” Skenes said regarding his pregame mindset, according to the ESPN broadcast. “If I get too amped up, then honestly that’s where I get into trouble. Honestly just trying to have fun with it.”
Skenes’ first 20 fastballs all surpassed 100 miles per hour, and he threw 46 total pitches on Saturday night in triple digits.
“Changeup for sure. Slider, curveball. Fastball was off and on, to be honest,” Skenes said of what worked most for him Saturday. “It was nice to be able to make pitches when I had to and had some good defense back there, too.”
LSU got the win with Skenes and will now look to upset the Demon Deacons in the winners’ bracket. The Tigers will almost certainly only see Skenes again if they can reach the national championship series, in which he would likely start the first game.
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