Paul Skenes addresses his availability for Game 3 of College World Series Finals

Many college baseball fans are curious as to whether LSU superstar Paul Skenes will possibly pitch in Game 3 of the College World Series Finals. He’s the projected No. 1 overall selection in the upcoming 2023 MLB Draft, according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. The Florida Gators set all kinds of records during Game 2, obliterating the LSU Tigers by 20 runs, 24-4. So, a Game 3 in the CWS Finals on Monday night is definitely on tap. Pull up a seat for that one.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, ESPN sideline reporter Kris Budden gave fans some early hints as to whether or not the LSU superstar will pitch tomorrow. As Skenes walked off the bus on Sunday afternoon ahead of Game 2, she asked him if he was pitching.

“He said, not today, maybe tomorrow,” the ESPN sideline reported noted. Budden also asked him what his sales pitch to Tigers’ head coach Jay Johnson would be to convince him to let him pitch in Game 3. “I just look him in the eye and say, ‘I feel good.’

Skenes has thrown 243 pitches in two starts over the last nine days. He hurled 123 pitches against Tennessee in the Tigers’ first game of the College World Series. His regular schedule would have called for six days off before his next start. But this is Omaha and LSU was on the ropes, so Skenes pitched on five days’ rest and twirled eight scoreless innings with nine strikeouts on 120 pitches.

243 pitches in a week is a lot. Asking Skenes to go again would be a lot, especially considering he might be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft next month, a moment that would garner him north of a $9.5 million dollar signing bonus. But, again, this is the College World Series. Even more, the final game of the 2023 season.

Thursday night’s pitching duel between Skenes and Lowder lived up to expectations

Thursday night’s College World Series showdown between Wake Forest and LSU lived up to the lofty billing and then some. It was a highly anticipated affair between two of the best pitchers in college baseball history–LSU ace Paul Skenes and Wake Forest ace Rhett Lowder.

It didn’t disappoint as both pitchers shattered records before a nationally televised audience on ESPN2. The game drew an impressive audience–2.091 million viewers, according to ESPN PR. It was also the most-watched pre-finals game on ESPN platforms. The trilogy between Wake Forest and LSU had the top 3 rated pre-finals games during the College World Series on record.

The game had plenty of dramatics. There was a season-saving throw to home plate by LSU first baseman Tre’ Morgan. Then there was the walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the 11th inning by Tigers’ slugger Tommy White. It lifted the Tigers to their first CWS Final since 2017.

Both pitchers performed up to expectation, allowing zero runs and firing 15 total strikeouts in 15 combined innings of work. They’re two of the best pitching prospects in the upcoming 2023 MLB Draft and they certainly played like it on Thursday evening.

College baseball fans have been treated to a College World Series that will forever go down in history as one of the best. Let’s hope for yet another classic in Game 3 of the CWS Finals, the conclusion of the 2023 college baseball season.

On3’s Nick de la Torre also contributed to this article.