Paul Skenes explains what was working for him vs. Tennessee, feeling of playing in CWS

As LSU pitcher Paul Skenes prepared to start in the first College World Series game of his career, he tried his best to stay calm. This stage is what Skenes envisioned when he transferred to LSU this offseason from Air Force, but he didn’t want to get too caught up in the moment.

“Just try to stay as relaxed as possible,” Skenes told ESPN’s Kris Budden of his pregame mindset. “If I get too amped up, then honestly that’s where I get into trouble. Honestly just trying to have fun with it.”

It seemed to work, as the Tigers ace was brilliant from the start in leading the team to a 6-3 victory against Tennessee. Skenes pitched 7.2 innings before giving up his first run and being pulled in the eighth.

Whether it was topping 100 mph on his fastball or switching things up with some sliders and curveballs, everything seemed to be working for Skenes. He retired batter after batter to finish the evening with 12 strikeouts while allowing just five hits.

“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.”

Skenes dominant play helped LSU jump out to build a 5-0 lead heading into the eighth inning. However, after he gave up his first run, Gabin Guidry entered in relief and immediately gave up a two-run shot to Hunter Enley. He was then pulled in favor of Riley Cooper, who pitched the final 1.1 innings, recording two strikeouts and catching a line drive on the final out to earn the save.

After the game, Skenes explained what it was like to not only play in his first CWS game, but perform the way he did and come away with the victory.

“It was awesome,” he said. “Everything I could have asked for. Alex Box is pretty cool, but this is pretty cool, too. Awesome experience.”

Entering his Saturday night start, Skenes had a 1.77 ERA to his name. Just 21 earned runs on the season for Skenes over 107 innings pitched, striking out 188 batters and walking just seven. With his performance Saturday, he is now up to 200 strikeouts on the season, three shy of breaking the school record.

With the Tigers in the winner’s bracket, Skenes likely will get some rest next game against No. 1 seed Wake Forest at 7 p.m. on Monday. After that, however, he’ll get a chance to make history in the Tigers’ next matchup.