Pirates, Reds fans robbed of Paul Skenes-Rhett Lowder matchup because of scheduling

Anyone who watched the matchup between LSU's Paul Skenes and Wake Forest's Rhett Lowder in the semifinals of the 2023 College World Series saw a pitcher's duel for the ages.

Both pitchers lived up to the hype and dominated in their respective outings in Omaha. Skenes struck out nine Wake Forest batters while allowing two hits and a walk over eight innings of work en route to setting an SEC record for the most strikeouts in a single season (207).

Lowder also delivered a record-setting performance, allowing three hits and two walks while recording six strikeouts in seven shutout innings. His fourth strikeout of the game was his 141st of the season, the most by a pitcher in Wake Forest history. Interestingly enough, that record has since been broken by Chase Burns, whom the Reds selected at No. 2 overall in 2024.

With a walk-off homer by Tommy White in the 11th inning, LSU would end up punching their ticket to the finals en route to a College World title. But the battle between two future first-round draft picks left fans giddy with anticipation of a potential Major League rematch on baseball's biggest stage in the years to come.

Pirates, Reds fans robbed of Paul Skenes-Rhett Lowder matchup because of scheduling

The anticipation of a potential rematch only intensified when the pitchers were drafted by National League Central Division rivals that same year – Skenes by the Pittsburgh Pirates at No. 1 overall, and Lowder by the Cincinnati Reds at No. 7. Both were fast tracked to the big leagues in 2024, and the scheduled three-game series between the Pirates and Reds in Cincinnati this weekend looked like it had the potential to deliver.

But alas, what sounded too good to be true turned out to be exactly that. Based on the starting pitcher projections for each team in the series, Skenes and Lowder are set to miss each other by just one day. Lowder is expected to pitch Saturday against Pirates rookie Jared Jones, while Skenes is slated to go Sunday against a yet-to-be-determined Reds starter.

It could have lined up perfectly, but Pittsburgh's management of Skenes' workload has him getting an extra day of rest in between starts down the final stretch of the 2024 campaign. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait another year for the rematch of one of the most epic pitching duels in College World Series history.

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