LSU pitcher Paul Skenes wins Dick Howser Award

Skenes wins one of the most prestigious awards in all of college baseball.

LSU All-American ace pitcher Paul Skenes was awarded the 2023 Dick Howser Trophy on, given annually to the most outstanding player in NCAA Division I baseball, on Thursday.

The Dick Howser Trophy honors a player who has been the most outstanding but also one who displays tenets of leadership, moral character and courage. Skenes joins former LSU All-American first baseman Eddy Furniss – the 1998 winner of the Dick Howser Trophy – as the second Tiger to capture the award.

“Paul Skenes certainly is deserving of the 2023 Dick Howser Trophy,” Howser Trophy chairman David Feaster said. “He has established himself as head and shoulders above any pitcher in NCAA Division I this season as well as a team leader and community service champion. His tremendous talent also has helped LSU make the NCAA World Series field for the 19th time overall and the first time since 2017.”

Skenes leads the SEC in wins (12), strikeouts (188), earned run average (1.77), innings pitched (107.0) and opponent batting average (.170). His 188 strikeouts are also the most in the nation. He is ranked No. 2 on LSU’s all-time single-season strikeouts list, trailing only Ben McDonald, who recorded 202 strikeouts in 1989.

Skenes also leads the country in strikeouts per nine 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 nine innings (5.47).

Skenes was also named Collegiate Baseball’s 2023 National Player of the Year and the 2023 SEC Pitcher of the Year.

Skenes, who transferred in from the U.S. Air Force Academy and has had family members who have served, has pledged $10 for every strikeout he records this season to Folds of Honor. Folds of Honor is a non-profit organization that gives educational scholarships to the spouses and children of military and first responders who have died or been disabled.