The result was predictable in a 7-2 LSU victory over Tulane at the opening game of the Baton Rouge regional, particularly when the starting pitcher news dropped.
Despite what might have been the popular opinion, LSU head coach Jay Johnson opted to start superstar Paul Skenes against a Green Wave squad that went 19-40 this season, though one that did run through its conference tournament for an NCAA bid. Skenes delivered as elite a performance as you'll see, hurling a 9-inning complete game for the first time in his career and striking out 12. He threw 124 pitches, touching 100 mph against Tulane's final batter.
But that's it for Skenes. It'll be down to some combination of Thatcher Hurd, Ty Floyd and others to get the Tigers into the supers. That next starting pitcher will face Oregon State in the winner's bracket after the Beavers manhandled Sam Houston 18-2 at Alex Box Stadium.
So, why didn't Johnson save his ace for a weekend start? Here's what he had to say.
"He's the best pitcher in college baseball. We're now in postseason play. And felt really good about what he could do today and impact us winning the game. And he definitely did that," Johnson said. "And as he spoke of, there's some other value of him being able to do what he did today that should help the rest of the pitchers the rest of the way."
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Did you consider not starting Skenes?
"I've considered everything all the time, yeah. Yeah, there was, but it was actually not a hard decision when you dig into it the way we dug into it."
Does the decision to go with Skenes indicate how much you trust him in this environment?
"Absolutely, as well as the rest of the guys on the staff for what's ahead of us."
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What went into the decision to let him finish it out?
"Because we've been very good at managing that count and making a decision to pull him out of a game that I never would have ever pulled him out of last week because of what was to come this week. It was almost -- I wouldn't call it a week off in Hoover, but he had an extra day's rest this week. So it was eight days' rest. A lighter pitch count week last week. We've been very deliberate about what games he's gone into that hundred range and what games he came out before that. And the only decision was Travinski going to hit a grand slam and put us up nine.
"And with a long inning, we probably wouldn't have sent him back out there. But no way were we messing around. And Wes came to me in the eighth, started talking -- I was like, no, he's going back out. He's got the first three hitters. If we have traffic, then we'll set something else up. But I didn't really feel like there was going to be traffic based on how he finished the eighth inning after I went out to the mound."
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Would you consider bringing Skenes out of the bullpen down the road?
"No. He's very clearly on, looked at this thing like he was going to be a weekend starter for us and pitch once a week and set him up, set up a good schedule to do that. And he's delivered. He's delivered as well as any pitcher I've ever seen in college baseball. And what he does to prepare and then how he executes and he did it again today."
Tulane and Sam Houston will face off in an elimination game at 2 p.m. Saturday, while LSU and Oregon State are scheduled for a first pitch at 8 p.m. from Alex Box Stadium. The loser of that game will face the loser between the Tigers and Beavers.
Catch all the action on WWL (AM-870; FM-105.3) or on the free Audacy app.
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