"Meant to be" - Paul Skenes’ girlfriend Olivia Dunne recalls watching Pirates ace play before fate pulled them together

Fate works in mysterious ways, and Paul Skenes' girlfriend, Olivia Dunne, just found out about it firsthand. On Monday, Dunne said that her fate was already sealed with the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher and that she's only realizing it now as she said, "invisible strings are real."

Until now, Dunne thought that she had only watched Skenes on the mound when he came to LSU in 2022. However, her mom, Katherine, while moving Livvy's old stuff from their house in New Jersey, found a ticket from the first college baseball game she attended.

In a moment of surprise for her, it was the game where Paul Skenes pitched for the Air Force Falcons against the LSU Tigers. Dunne shared all about it in her video on social media.

"Invisible strings are real," she said. "So right now, I'm in Jersey, and my mom is moving stuff out of my house in Louisiana for me. And as we know, I was in college for five years. I have a lot of stuff in my house. Then my mom finds this — it’s a ticket to the LSU vs. Air Force baseball game. And Paul was on Air Force’s team. That was my first college baseball game ever, and I didn’t even know him." "Like, that is crazy. I always knew he played LSU, but I never thought I was at that game," Dunne added. "Like, I didn’t know I was there — and I went to that game! That is just wild to me. I don’t know — it was meant to be."

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Paul Skenes' time with Air Force Falcons before transferring to Olivia Dunne's LSU

Before Paul Skenes had transferred to LSU Tigers in July 2022, he played two seasons for the Air Force Falcons while pursuing a future in military service like his uncles in the Navy and Coast Guard.

In his freshman year, Skenes played two ways like Shohei Ohtani does with the Dodgers. He played in separate roles, including playing at first base, catcher and even as a DH apart from being the closer. That season, he hit .410/.486/.697 with 11 home runs and collected as many saves, becoming the only Division I player to reach double digits in both categories.

He earned the Freshman of the Year honors in the Mountain West Conference, first-team All-American awards and a selection to the USA Collegiate National Team.

In 2022, Skenes was made the team captain as he led Air Force to its first Mountain West Conference championship and first NCAA regional bid since 1969. He posted a sub-2.00 ERA and hit 13 home runs. He also won the John Olerud Award, given to the nation’s top two-way player.

For his final college season, Paul Skenes transferred to Olivia Dunne's LSU Tigers, where he met and started dating the social media star. He also led LSU to College World Series title before being picked first in the 2022 MLB draft.

Edited by Bhargav