Livvy Dunne Rates Pirates' Paul Skenes Viral Play
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates star pitcher Paul Skenes pulled off an interesting move in his latest start that girlfriend Livvy Dunne gave a rating on.
Skenes faced the Washington Nationals in the series opener at PNC Park on April 14 and allowed a double to start the top of the sixth inning to shortstop Nasim Nuñez.
Right fielder Alex Call hit a ball to Pirates third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, which bounced up and hit off his glove. Skenes, noticing this, ran to third base to tag out Nuñez and Hayes threw it to him, but Skenes was too late to tag out Nuñez, causing Skenes to somersault after somewhat coliding with Nuñez.
Paul Skenes will do anything to win. pic.twitter.com/HXps1hXf5T
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) April 15, 2025
Skenes said after the game that he hasn't done a somersault in a long time and that he hopes that he won't do it in the near future.
"It's been a while since I've done a sommersault," Skenes said. "I don't know, I was probably three or four years old or something like that. Good neck mobility. I'll attribute it to that, that nothing went wrong. Not ideal. I don't want to do that again."
Skenes still put in a great performance, finishing with six strikeouts over six innings and allowing just three hits, no walks and one earned run in the 10-3 win.
Dunne, who is an LSU gymnast, has a history of tumbling and doing somersaults, just like Skenes did, but with a little more flair and ability.
PAUL SKENES AND LIVVY DUNNE https://t.co/ihtLmilu6g pic.twitter.com/tT7cTqFecU
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 15, 2025
Dunne made an Instagram story the following day, giving Skenes a "9.8 rating" with a "slight deduction on the landing.
Skenes and Dunne both started dating each other back at LSU and the two have been inseparable ever since.
Dunne is also the most followed NCAA athlete on social media, including 5.3 million followers on Instagram and eight million followers on Tik Tok.
She is in her fifth season with LSU gymnastics, where she helped LSU win their first National Title in the 2023-24 season, as well as setting a career-high of 9.900 on floor twice. She also spent time o the U.S. National Team back in 2017.
Skenes starred at LSU in 2023, after transferring from Air Force. He had a 13-2 record in 19 starts, 1.69 ERA in 122.2 innings pitched, gave up just 23 earned runs and seven earned runs, while notching 209 strikeouts to just 20 walks, leading the program to a national title that season.
He would enter the 2023 MLB Draft, where the Pirates took him with the No. 1 overall pick. He also signed with the franchise on a $9.2 million signing bonus, the highest ever given to a player at the time.
Skenes dominated in the minor leagues and soon made it up to the majors on May 11 of the 2024 season.
He started 23 games, had a 1.96 ERA in 133 innings, allowed just 29 earned runs, 94 hits, six home runs and 32 walks, while recording 170 strikeouts and holding opposing hitting to a .198 batting average. He also had a 11.50 K/9 and a WHIP of 0.95.
Skenes was the first member of the Pirates to start for the National League in the All-Star Game since Jerry Reuss did it in 1975, 49 years ago. He was also just the fifth rookie to start an All-Star game, with Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers last doing so before him in 1995, en route to winning NL Rookie of the Year.
He also made the All-MLB First Team for his performance in 2024, won NL Rookie of the Year and was a finalist for the NL Cy Young Award.
Skenes is 2-1 this season in four starts, with a 2.96 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched, with 26 strikeouts to three walks.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.