Paul Skenes had ‘no doubt’ he would take the mound against Wake Forest

Skenes knew his number would be called with LSU’s season on the line Thursday.

With their season on the line in a winner-take-all game against the best team in the country in Wake Forest, LSU turned to their ace in [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] on Thursday night.

Skenes delivered a gem, pitching eight shutout innings in a game that ultimately went 11 innings before a walk-off two-run homer from [autotag]Tommy White[/autotag] broke the scoreless tie and ended the game.

Despite pitching on Saturday night, Skenes said starting against the Demon Deacons wasn’t even a question.

“There was no doubt,” Skenes said, per On3. “I know our strength coaches, Wes, I knew everyone was going to do everything in their power to get me ready. Everyone’s going to get everyone else on the staff ready to pitch two or three more times for the bullpen arms.

“But there was no doubt in my mind. To be honest, there wasn’t a whole lot of conversation.”

It was an epic pitching duel between potential top-10 picks as Rhett Lowder started on the other side for Wake. In a game like that, Skenes said it was key to keep his emotions under control.

“To be honest, I think it was, it might have been cooler for the people in the stands than it was for me just because all it comes down to is just executing. I didn’t watch a whole lot of Lowder’s outing. Obviously he did really well, executed really well,” Skenes said.

“But just comes down to slowing the game down and going out there and executing.”

The Tigers will now face Florida in the College World Series final, which begins on Saturday. It’s a rematch of the final series from 2017, which the Gators won in two games.

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