USAFA — On Thursday, Collegiate Baseball announced its All-American selections, with Paul Skenes being named a First Team All-American as well as Sam Kulasingam picking up Third Team recognition.
Skenes, the Mountain West Co-Pitcher of the Year owns a 10.1 K/9 to lead the Falcons, while his his 2.42 ERA was second among Mountain West starters. His 92 total strikeouts was also second in the conference, and is the fifth-most ever by a Falcons pitcher in a single season. The sophomore has held a opponents to .214 BA to lead the all Mountain West pitchers, as his 81.2 IP was second-most in the conference.
The sophomore is one of only 17 DI pitchers with at least 10 wins, joining Dave Lyons (1994) as only the second pitcher in Air Force history to win 10 games in a single season. Air Force is 12-2 in game started by Skenes.
Skenes, among the elite two-way players in college baseball, also enters Friday's Regional with a slash line of .326/.426/.652 wth 12 home runs and 36 RBI in 141 at-bats.
Kulasingam, the Mountain West Player of the Year, has produced one of the most potent offensive seasons in Air Force history. Kulasingam's .414 average leads Air Force, as do his 103 hits. He became the all-time single season leader in hits in program history on May 20, breaking Bradley Haslam's record of 96 hits set in 2016. His .414 BA is 2nd in DI, trailing only Georgia Tech's Chandler Simpson (.418), while his 103 hits is tied for most in Division I with Kennesaw State's Josh Hatcher. Kulasingam is one of only 14 players in the country with at least 24 doubles, while having reached base in 54 of 57 games in 2022. His 170 total bases are the most-ever by a Falcon, as Kulasingam is 10th among all DI players in the category.
Kulasingam leads the Falcons with 30 multi-hit games as well as 18 multi-RBI games. He owns the longest hit streak (19) and on-base streak (31) among Falcons this season, and enters the Austin Regional with a 12-game hitting streak. Kulasingam is one of only four players to start all 57 games for Air Force.
The Falcons will begin Regional play against top-seed Texas on Friday, June 3 with first-pitch scheduled for 12:00 pm MT.
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