Report: Paul Skenes to Attend UCLA-LSU World Series Clash

Pittsburgh Pirates ace and former LSU Tigers national champion Paul Skenes will reportedly be in attendance as his alma mater takes on the UCLA Bruins in the winner's semifinals on Monday, according to The Advocate.

As the Pirates close out a series against the Chicago Cubs, Skenes is gifted an off day to take a trip to Omaha and watch his former squad of two years try and advance one step closer to another national title.

The Bruins made their way to Monday's game after a 6-4 win over the Murray State Racers on Saturday. UCLA is 6-0 in the postseason ahead of its matchup against the No. 3 seeded Tigers. The Bruins are yet to play against a top-16 seed this postseason as they hosted the super regional round after UTSA upset No. 2 ranked Texas.

LSU surged over No. 6 Arkansas it its first round 4-1.

UCLA coach John Savage refused to let his squad get too ahead of themselves amidst a six-game postseason win streak.

"Well, I don't want to talk about it," Savage said of his team's undefeated record in the postseason. "I don't really want to talk about it. You know, that’s what the postseason is—there's a lot of teams up here that haven't lost that are still up here. It's one game in a four-team bracket. So where do you want to be? Do you want to be here? Yeah, you want to win the first game, no question about it. But we've got a long, long way to go. We're playing good baseball."

LSU last appeared in the College World Series when Skenes led them to a national title in 2023. The Burins, however, are making their first appearance in Omaha since 2013, when they won the national championship as well.

The Tigers are enjoying their 20th College World Series in program history while UCLA is enjoying its sixth.

While the Bruins will likely enter as underdogs, they are led by Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year and Brooks Wallace Award winner Roch Cholowsky who is staking his claim as one of, if not the, best players in college baseball.