LSU Baseball Starting Lineup Today: Who's starting for the Tigers tonight?

The LSU Tigers face their Southeastern Conference rivals, the Florida Gators, in one of the most anticipated games in college baseball history, as they square off in Game 3 of the College World Series on Monday night.

The Tigers (53-17) won 4-3 in 11 innings in Game 1 on Saturday, and the Gators (54-16) took Game 2 in a 24-4 blowout on Sunday. We have arrived at the rubber match, Game 3, with everything on the line.

Florida won its only national championship in 2017 by topping LSU in two games, 4-3 and 6-1. The Tigers have won six national championships, but their last came in 2009.

Many baseball fans wonder which players will make the crucial play to lead his team to a national championship.

The LSU Tigers, who were ranked No. 1 for most of the season, have fought their way tooth and nail to the finals, but who will make the plays when it matters most?

Let's look into who's starting for the Tigers on Monday night.

LSU projected starting lineup

2023 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship

CF Dylan Crews

3B Tommy White

1B Tre' Morgan

C Alex Milazzo

DH Cade Beloso

2B Gavin Dugas

RF Brayden Jobert

SS Jordan Thompson

LF Josh Pearson

SP Thatcher Hurd

LSU stars to watch

2023 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship

It begins and ends with Dylan Crews. Crews has become an offensive juggernaut for the Tigers, and his current run at consecutive games reaching base is legendary. Crews, who won the Golden Spikes on Sunday and is the two-time SEC Player of the Year, gets on as well as anyone in recent memory and causes havoc as a base runner.

Tommy White, a Golden Spikes and Dick Howser semifinalist last season at North Carolina State, has become an LSU legend in his own right. He powering the Tigers past Wake Forest 2-0 in 11 innings with his two-run homer on Thursday night. White gets the advantage of batting behind Crews and has multiple RBI opportunities in his future for the big game.

Paul Skenes is the best pitcher in college baseball and the man of the hour. Baseball fans are hanging on every word to see "if" and "when" Skenes, the Dick Howser Trophy winner and Collegiate Baseball's Player of the Year, is available to pitch on Monday night. Thatcher Hurd will start for the Tigers, but if Skenes comes on and leads LSU to a win on Monday night, he will further his legendary status at LSU.

Skenes, who will be a top pick in next month's MLB draft, threw 120 pitches across eight innings against Wake on Thursday.

LSU unsung heroes

2023 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship

We haven't heard much from Cade Beloso lately, but the Tigers' designated hitter remains one of the critical players in this contest. In baseball, it only takes one pitch, and if I'm looking for a player slightly under the radar to rise as the hero, I'm looking squarely at Cade Beloso.

LSU wins the College World Series

2023 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship

I know Florida just brutalized these Tigers, but LSU has the type of intestinal fortitude to rebound quickly. Dylan Crews, college baseball's player of the year, is built for moments like this one. Paul Skenes could show up on the brightest stage, and the LSU Tigers will take home college baseball's national title.