LSU baseball lands commitment from two-way Air Force transfer Paul Skenes

LSU has landed another commitment from the transfer portal. This time, it’s someone who can quite literally do it all.

Air Force pitcher and catcher Paul Skenes took to Twitter to announce his commitment to the Tigers on Thursday. He started 18 games on the mound for the Eagles and saw plenty of time behind the plate during the 2021 season.

“To the Air Force Academy: The past two years have been the most gratifying and memorable years of my life,” Skenes wrote with his tweet. “It has been an honor to attend and represent the acadmey and the United States Air Force, and the people I have met and grown close to along the way have made every part of the journey special. … However, my family and I have decided that I will not be continuing my education at the Air Force Academy. Those at the academy have been and always will be my family.

“With that said, I am extremely excited to announce that I will be transferring to LSU. I can’t wait to get to work and bring another championship back to Baton Rouge!”

Skenes was a first team All-American selection by D1Baseball and a third team All-America honoree by Baseball America. He had a 10-3 record with 2.73 ERA as a pitcher while also adding a .314 batting average and 13 home runs at the plate.

Skenes joins an impressive transfer portal haul for LSU

It’s the latest portal addition for LSU. The Tigers also brought in two high-profile transfers — former Vanderbilt pitcher Christian Little and former NC State first baseman Tommy White late last month.

White had a monster year as a freshman for NC State this season, hitting 27 home runs — a new NCAA record for most home runs by a freshman. He also batted .362 and drove in 74 runs to help the Wolfpack to a 36-21 overall record, including a 14-15 mark in ACC action. For his efforts, he was named ACC Freshman of the Year and was a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist.

Little made 18 appearances for Vanderbilt in 2022, including three starts. He had a 3.72 ERA in 38.2 innings of work to go with 46 strikeouts and three saves. He also had a 1-2 record on the bump before entering the portal. As a group, the Commodores went 39-23 overall and 14-16 in SEC play this past season.