Paul Skenes receives latest national honor as LSU gets set for College World Series

Paul Skenes added another honor during his special season at LSU.

Skenes on Thursday received the 2023 Dick Howser Trophy as the national player of the year.

Skenes, a 6-foot-6, 247-pound right-hander, will likely make his next start Saturday night against Tennessee in Omaha at the College World Series.

Skenes leads the SEC in wins (12), strikeouts (188), earned run average (1.77), innings pitched (107.0) and opponent batting average (.170) He is ranked No. 2 on LSU’s all-time single-season strikeouts list, behind only Ben McDonald, who recorded 202 strikeouts in 1989. Skenes has averaged just more than 11 strikeouts per appearance this season. If LSU wins at least twice in the CWS’s 8-team, double-elimination format, Skenes should get at least 2 starts.

The NCAA record is 234 held by Hawaii’s Derek Tatsuno in 1979, when he pitched 174 1/3 innings — 22 innings more than McDonald’s 152 1/3 and 67 1/3 more than Skenes’ current count of 107 innings.

Skenes, Collegiate Baseball’s 2023 National Player of the Year and the 2023 SEC Pitcher of the Year, is No. 1 in the nation in strikeouts (188), strikeouts per 9 innings (15.81) and WHIP (0.78), and he is No. 2 in the nation in ERA (1.77). He is No.3 in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.44), and No. 6 in hits allowed per 9 innings (5.47).

College Baseball’s Best Player@Paul_Skenes is the 2023 Dick Howser Trophy Winner pic.twitter.com/yacWvmiE9h

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) June 15, 2023

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.