Pirates’ Paul Skeens and Livvy Dunn named college game day players of the year

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates star jar Paul Skens and her friend Livvy Dunn will be selected by ESPN. College Game Day this weekend, according to reporting from Pete Nakos of On3.

College Game Day is the pregame show that ESPN airs every Saturday morning before the start of college football games, usually from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The program is distributed to different campuses across the country, highlighting the teams and fan bases that make college football what it is.

They’ll host it this weekend in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at LSU as the No. 14 team hosts No. 11 Alabama at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 14, televised by ABC.

Skenes and Dunn will be the pickers who will choose which football teams will win the biggest games across the country this weekend.

Dunn confirmed the news of the continuation of the duet College GameDay on Twitter, writing: “Can’t wait!!! Let’s draw”

Dunn and Skeens have been dating since they both attended LSU together, and she often goes to meetings with her boyfriend, who performs in Pittsburgh.

Skence starred at LSU in 2023 after transferring from the Air Force. He had a 13-2 record in 19 starts, a 1.69 ERA in 122.2 innings, and gave up just 23 earned runs and seven earned runs while posting 209 strikeouts with just 20 walks, leading the program to the national title that season. .

He will enter the 2023 MLB Draft, where Pirates took it number 1 overall. He also signed a $9.2 million signing bonus with the franchise, the highest ever given to a player.

Skens dominated the minor leagues and was promoted to the major leagues shortly after on May 11 of the 2024 season.

He started 23 games, had a 1.96 ERA in 133.0 innings, allowed just 29 earned runs, 94 hits, six home runs and 32 walks while recording 170 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .198 hitting average. He also had a K/9 ratio of 11.50 and a WHIP of 0.95.

He was also the first member of the Pirates to pitch in the National League All-Star Game since Jerry Reuss did so in 1975, 49 years ago. He is also only the fifth rookie to make the All-Star Game: Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers did so in 1995 en route to winning the National League Rookie of the Year.

Dunn is a star gymnast herself, having spent 2017 on Team USA and helping LSU win its first national title last season, while also setting a career-high 9.900 on floor exercise twice.

She is also the most followed NCAA athlete on social media, including 5.3 million followers on Instagram and 8.1 million followers on Tik Tok.

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