COLORADO SPRINGS — On Monday, the Mountain West Conference announced their yearly end-of-season awards and Air Force's Paul Skenes was named Freshman of the Year.
The California native is also just the second Falcon to earn MW Freshman of the Year honors after Nic Ready was named the Co-Freshman of the Year in 2016.
Skenes, as well as senior pitcher John Byrnes, were named to the All-Conference First Team, while catcher Braydon Altorfer was picked to the second team, following a vote of the league's seven head coaches.
All three players were honored for the first time in their respective careers.
Skenes was also named a First Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball News earlier in the day.
Skenes slashed .410/.486/.697 with 77 hits, 21 doubles, 11 home runs, 43 RBIs and 49 runs scored in 201. He led the team with 21 multi-hit games, including two five-hit games, while also notching 12 multi-RBI games. He finished the season on a 35-game reached base streak, while also recording a hit in all but eight games on the season. The .410 batting average is tied for the highest in a single-season for AF since 2003. He also led the Mountain West in on base percentage and total bases.
On the mound, Skenes tossed 26.2 innings, and accumulated a 2.70 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over that span with 30 strikeouts to just nine walks. He went a perfect 11-for-11 in save attempts (a Mountain West best 7 saves), while holding his opponents to a .208 batting average.
