Cuyos hits walk-off single as Aggies top No. 12 Auburn, 1-0
The No. 11 Aggies (39-12, 12-8 SEC) notched a 1-0 walk-off victory over No. 12 Auburn Saturday afternoon at Davis Diamond to remain undefeated in the brand new stadium.
In the bottom of the seventh and with two outs, Kristen Cuyos found a pitch to hit and delivered the walk-off RBI single up the middle — the first walk-off in Davis Diamond history. Before Cuyos delivered the game-winning hit, Riley Sartain and Kelbi Fortenberry hit back-to-back two-out singles to start the rally.
“All game she’s been throwing a slow out — her drop ball is a phenomenal drop ball, so we knew to cheat up on the plate a little bit, take that pitch away and set it down the middle basically,” Cuyos said of her walk-off RBI base hit. “I saw it was a 2-0 count a great hitters count, and I just hit it as hard as I could and found a hole.”
Sam Show (11-4, 2.50 ERA) started in the circle for the Aggies and was brilliant — tossing seven shutout innings and missing bats left and right. Show finished the game with eight strikeouts and gave up just one hit to the Tigers.
Show said the difference in her game today was her changeup. It was the pitch Auburn hitters couldn’t square up all game. Her performance in the circle was a complete 180 from last weekend at LSU where she struggled with her command, giving up four walks and three runs.
“At LSU I was amped up,” Show said. “That was my first time pitching in a couple weeks and all I did was take my deep breaths and focus on Ashley [Walters] down behind the plate and I just went after batters.”
Cuyos said she noticed the difference in Show’s changeup Saturday too, playing defense behind her at shortstop.
“Her changeup, I mean you just saw her keeping batters off balance,” Cuyos said. “When you can do that, you’re a dangerous dangerous pitcher.”
With another SEC win today, the Aggies have put another game between themselves and Auburn. Head coach Jo Evans said she’s happy with how tough her team is playing and wants them to continue to play at such a high level.
“It’s huge, when you take a series on a Saturday that’s a really big deal and when you have a chance to sweep on Sunday, obviously that’s a huge deal,” Evans said. “I’m proud of our kids. We came here with more of a chip on our shoulder this weekend. I’m not going to say we’ve been soft, but I don’t think we’ve been as tough-minded as we needed to be and I also felt like we weren’t recognizing how talented we are.”
The Aggies have taken the series from Auburn and will look to complete the sweep Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. and the game can be seen on the SEC Network +.
