Paul Skenes shares feelings on reaching 200 strikeouts

The entire 2023 season for LSU starting pitcher Paul Skenes has been historic. He had another milestone moment Saturday in the Tigers’ 6-3 opening-game win of the Men’s College World Series over Tennessee.

Skenes threw his 200th strikeout of the season during the game, becoming the second pitcher in SEC history to throw at least 200 strikeouts in a season. LSU legend Ben McDonald is the only other pitcher in conference history to reach the mark, throwing 202 during his memorable 1989 season.

When asked after the game about reaching the accomplishment — which he did with his 12th and final strikeout of the game — Skenes said it wasn’t on his mind heading to the mound.

“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.”

Skenes finished the game having pitched 7.2 innings, allowing five hits, one walk and two runs while striking out the 12 batters.

His record on the year is now 12-2 with a 1.81 ERA, 0.776 WHIP and 15.7 strikeouts per nine innings. He has pitched in 18 games, throwing 114.2 total innings.

With one more start potentially on the horizon for Skenes, he has a chance to pitch his way into the top 10 of the all-time strikeout leaders in a single season.

The all-time leader is legendary Hawaii pitcher Derek Tatsuno, who threw 234 strikeouts in 22 games in 1979. Tatsuno also holds the single-season win record from that year with 20. It has only been matched once since.

Former Fresno State pitcher John Hoover is 10th on the all-time list with 205 strikeouts in 1984. Skenes would have a great chance to break that if he pitches again. In his 18 starts this year, Skenes has thrown double-digit strikeouts 14 times.

LSU head coach Jay Johnson said after the game that Skenes’ performance on the game’s biggest stage was the latest example why he was deserving of winning the Dick Howser Award as the nation’s best player.

“He just showed tonight why he was probably the clear-cut winner for that award,” Johnson said. “We tried to get him some rest and insulate him as best we could so he could be on track with his preparation because he does that better than anybody else. As good as the performance is, the preparation is even better. I think what gets lost with him sometimes because his stuff is so amazing, the pitch execution is tremendous. And when you put that kind of stuff with that kind of execution, you have Paul Skenes.”