Paul Skenes Named a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association First Team All-American

DALLAS, Texas -- Air Force Academy baseball freshman utility player Paul Skenes was named a First Team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), the organization announced Wednesday, June 16. It is the second First Team All-American honor for Skenes so far, as he was named one by Collegiate Baseball News on June 3. Skenes is also a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

Skenes is one of just four freshman named to the first team, and is one of just two MW player named to any of the three teams (Matt Rudnick, SDSU, Third Team).

The Lake Forest, Calif. product put together one of the greatest freshman seasons in program history, while ranking near the top of numerous categories nationally most of the season as a two-way threat. He started all 48 games, 28 at DH, 18 at catcher, and twice at first base. He also made 18 relief appearances on the mound, all coming in games in which he started in the batting lineup.

Overall on the season on offense, Skenes slashed .410/.486/.697 with 77 hits, 21 doubles, 11 home runs, 43 RBIs and 49 runs scored. He led the team with 21 multi-hit games, including two five-hit games, while also notching 12 multi-RBI games. He finished the season on a 35-game reached base streak, while also recording a hit in all but eight games on the season. The .410 batting average is tied for the highest in a single-season for AF since 2003.

On the mound, Skenes tossed 26.2 innings, and accumulated a 2.70 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over that span with 30 strikeouts to just nine walks. He went a perfect 11-for-11 in save attempts, while holding his opponents to a .208 batting average. In his 18 appearances, Skenes allowed an earned run in just seven of them, and more than one only once, while recording at least one strikeout in all but two.

Nationally, Skenes finished the regular season ranked ninth in saves, 10th in doubles, 12th in doubles per game (0.44), 14th in batting average, 17th in hits per game (1.60), 27th in slugging, 28th in total hits, 38th in total bases (131), 44th in OBP, 87th in runs scored per game (1.02), 113th in total runs scored, and 143rd in home runs. He was the only player in NCAA Division I baseball to have double-digit home runs and saves.

Skenes also found his way near or at the top in numerous single-season Air Force records. His 11 saves is tied for the most all-time in a single season, while his ranks in the top-five for a freshman in a single-season in hits (T-1st), doubles (T-1st), HRs (2nd), total bases (2nd), batting average (3rd), slugging (3rd), runs (T-3rd), and RBIs (4th).

The freshman had a huge hand in guiding Air Force to one of its best seasons in program history. The 26-22 overall record in the best for the program since 1993, while the 18-16 Mountain West record in the best conference record in program history. AF knocked off two top-15 teams for the first time since 2010 (#7 LSU & #13 Arizona), and was ranked in the top-50 of the NCAA RPI for a majority of the season. Finally, AF went 10-7 against teams who made the 2021 NCAA Tournament, while picking up four wins against teams in a Super Regional (LSU, Arizona, Dallas Baptist).

Paul Skenes Named a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association First Team All-American

Players Mentioned

Paul Skenes

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