LSU Athletics
CLEARWATER, Fla. – No. 12/10 LSU suffered a 5-1 loss to UCF on Saturday at the Eddie C. Moore Complex, moving to 7-3 on the season while UCF improves to 8-2.
Pitcher Tatum Clopton (2-1) took the loss, recording four strikeouts, six hits, two earned runs, and two walks in 3.2 innings. Reliever Cece Cellura pitched the last 3.1 innings with two strikeouts, five hits, two unearned runs, and one walk.
Jalia Lassiter turned in a multi-hit game for the second consecutive game, finishing 3-for-3 and scoring one run and drew one walk. Maci Bergeron went 2-for-4 at the dish and had the lone RBI for LSU.
UCF Pitcher Isabella Vega (3-1) snags the win after 3.1 innings in relief. Vega had three strikeouts and gave up two hits, one walk, and no runs. Hildie Dempsey started the first 3.2 innings and gave up six hits, one run, and two walks. She had no strikeouts.
UCF scored one run in the top of the first inning. LSU tied it in the bottom half when Lassiter singled, advanced, and scored on Bergeron’s RBI single.
After two scoreless innings, with Clopton retiring six straight batters, UCF used a solo home run to ignite a two-run, three-hit inning and establish a 3-1 lead through four frames. The Knights widened their lead to 5-1 with two runs in the sixth.
Up Next
LSU wraps up its 2026 Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational schedule with a 9 a.m. CT game against No. 6/7 UCLA on ESPN2 Sunday morning.
