Olivia Dunne’s Ultimate Test of ‘Trust’ Features Batting Practice With Paul Skenes

The content creator stood in while the pitcher practiced, and the results quickly went viral.

Paul Skenes and Olivia Dunne / Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images

While some partners wouldn’t trust their significant other to pick up the correct brand of paper towels from the grocery store, Olivia Dunne is proving that she and Paul Skenes operate on a different level of trust—one that sometimes involves a ridiculously fast-moving baseball.

The recently retired NCAA gymnast turned content creator has been dating the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher for over two years, the pair having met during their mutual time at Louisiana State University. And Dunne has long been a vocal supporter of Skenes in his sport, often spotted on the sidelines cheering him on during games.

Still, she took that support up a notch this week when she stood in for the 2025 Cy Young Award winner’s practice sessions, and the TikTok documenting the moment has already gone viral.

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An exercise in trust

In the nine-second clip posted on Monday, Feb. 2—which has garnered over 1.2 million views at the time of this article’s publication—Dunne wore a dark green helmet and held a bat that looked like a comically oversized pencil as Skenes practiced his pitch. Over the video, text teased, “‘Do you trust your bf?’ Me:” as a baseball flew right past her. Even so, she remained in position.

“Standing there like chicken little #fyp #baseball #bf #mlb,” the content creator joked in the caption. After the clip ended, two photos of Dunne were highlighted, showing her stance and nervous look before the pitch, once again showcasing the content creator’s ongoing willingness to poke fun at herself online.

The official Major League Baseball Instagram account also shared the viral video, asking in the caption, “How can you not be romantic about baseball 😂.” Dunne arrived in the comments just in time to share her own response, writing, “I’m all over that back door sinker next at bat.”

You can watch Dunne’s full video on TikTok here!

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Fan reactions

As you can imagine, many fans of the power couple were quick to take to Dunne’s comment section on TikTok to applaud her bravery, support, trust and, of course, to joke about her reaction:

“Did you connect on any of his pitches?” One fan asked, to which Dunne clarified, “I was just standing in 😭”

“Didn’t even flinch,” a commenter noted.

“The pencil bat is frying me,” another teased, to which Dunne responded, “It’s giving Mason 67”

“What’s next Paul doing a floor routine??” One user exclaimed.

And while the above was likely meant as a joke, we’d like to seriously second that sentiment. Mr. Skenes, we’ll all be waiting patiently to see your best floor routine!

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