Dylan Crews reacts to Paul Skenes’ highlight catch: ‘One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen’

It’s not easy to impress a legend. Nonetheless, LSU pitcher Paul Skenes did just that.

In LSU’s comfortable 7-2 victory over Tulane on Friday, Skenes made a highlight play you only see in video games. With a man on first base in the top of the fifth inning, Skenes threw a nasty 84 mile-per-hour sinker.

Surprisingly, the Tulane batter found the ball, smacking a line drive at Skenes’ legs. Instead of panicking, the 6-foot-6 stud calmly lifted his leg and snagged the heater before proceeding to throw out the runner at first. Raw swagger.

LSU superstar Dylan Crews was stunned by the standout moment.

“That was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life. I have, like, a straight lineup shot with it, so I was one of the ones that saw it before the replay where he caught it in between his legs. My initial reaction was hands over the head, I was, like, ‘That was sick,’” Crews said following the win.

Skenes was even cooler about the play in the postgame press conference than he was on the field.

“Yeah, just got tired of them hitting the ball up the middle and I wanted to catch one. So I did it,” Skenes said.

Skenes is something of a legend himself. The Air Force transfer was a 2022 & 2021 First-Team All-American. Moreover, Skenes won the John Olerud Award, given to the best two-way collegiate baseball player.

Skenes has been even better this season. The human cannon has a 1.9 ERA this year, the fourth-highest in the nation. In LSU’s win on Friday, Skenes threw a complete game, finishing with 124 pitches. Skenes solidified the spectacular performance with a 100 mile-per-hour fastball for his final pitch.

Despite Skenes’ jaw-dropping pitches and highlight fielding, LSU head coach Jay Johnson had one thing on his mind: winning.

“Call me shallow-minded thinking at the time, but I was glad we got two outs with one pitch. And I actually missed that. I didn’t see that he caught it between his legs. I was just happy we got a double play and started thinking for the offensive inning that was coming up,” Johnson said.

Johnson needs to keep that winning mindset. The Tigers will have a challenge next game as they face the winner between Oregon State and Sam Houston at 8 p.m. CT to advance to the Super Regionals.

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