Paul Skenes calls environment for Tennessee game 'awesome'

LSU Tigers starting pitcher Paul Skenes was on his A-game against Tennessee in the College World Series, getting charged up by the environment that he was pitching in.

After the game, Skenes praised the environment in Omaha. He added that it was an awesome experience that’s going to take some time to internalize following the game.

“It was awesome,” Paul Skenes said. “And I think I’m going to need a little bit of time to kind of internalize that and take it all in. So I don’t think I was able to do that as much as probably some other people were tonight.”

Skenes pitched 7.2 innings. He only allowed five hits, one walk, and two runs during that time. He also added 12 strikeouts, which was tied for his fifth-most strikeouts in any one game on the season.

“But it was an awesome experience to go out there and compete in front of that many people. Alex Box Stadium is a cool place, but this is a different (indiscernible). It was really cool.”

Even though the crowd was intense, Paul Skenes was prepared for it, having worked all season to get to that moment.

“I mean, this is something that we look forward to all year. This is why I came to LSU. But honestly, playing in front of as many fans as we have at Alex Box, and kind of mentally preparing over the last 10 months or whatever it’s been, when it comes down to it it just comes down to execution,” Skenes said.

“And Coach says the game doesn’t change, people change. As long as we make it to where we don’t change, then that allows to us have success here.”

Paul Skenes on reaching 200 strikeouts

In the win against Tennessee, Paul Skenes reached 200 strikeouts on the season. That’s a remarkable mark to reach as a starting pitcher. In 2022, Gerrit Cole led MLB with 257 strikeouts. He did that in more than 200 innings pitched. Skenes hit 200 in 114.2 innings.

Skenes admitted that it was really cool but that he didn’t think about it at the time.

“Not really,” Skenes said. “Found out about that after the game, which is really cool. But, I mean, it comes down to executing. And I think I did a good job of that today, especially early on. And so it’s really cool to do that. But just a lot more happy with the execution, I think.”