BATON ROUGE, La. — Paul Skenes lived up to the hype on Friday.

The LSU right-hander, tabbed as a possible No. 1 overall pick in next month’s MLB draft, struck out 12 batters and pitched a complete game to lead the Tigers to a 7-2 victory over Tulane in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament’s Baton Rouge Regional.

It was the first complete game of Skenes’ college career. He gave up seven hits, did not walk a batter, and had his fastball clocked at 100 mph several times in the ninth inning. He threw 124 pitches.

Skenes (11-2) is also the first LSU pitcher to throw a nine-inning complete game in postseason play since Alex Lange did it against Cal State Fullerton in 2015.

Hayden Travinski went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored for LSU (44-15), and Dylan Crews was 3-for-5 with a double, one RBI and one run scored.

Travinski hit an RBI double in the first inning to bring in the game’s first run, and Crews had one in the third to make it 3-0. Two sacrifice flies in the fifth inning helped push it to 6-0.

In the top of the seventh, Tulane scored its first — and only — runs with a two-run home run from designated hitter Brennan Lambert.

LSU will play Oregon State in a winners’ bracket game Saturday at 8 p.m. Oregon State crushed Sam Houston 18-2 in the other first-round game on Friday.

Tulane (19-41) plays Sam Houston in an elimination game at 2 p.m.

Both Baton Rouge Regional games will be streamed on ESPN+.

Baton Rouge Regional
All games streamed on ESPN+
Friday, June 2
Game 1 – LSU 7, Tulane 2
Game 2 – Oregon State 18, Sam Houston 2
Saturday, June 3
Game 3 – Tulane vs. Sam Houston, 2 p.m.
Game 4 – LSU vs. Oregon State, 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 4
Game 5 – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2 p.m.
Game 6 – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 8 p.m.
Monday, June 5
Game 7 – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, TBA (if necessary)