Texas A&M walks off Houston Baptist in error-filled contest, 5-4

Costly errors from both sides turned an otherwise one-sided affair into a game decided by the final at-bat. 

After drawing a walk and stealing both second and third, sophomore Rylen Wiggins cashed in on Houston Baptist's fourth error to seal a narrow 5-4 victory for Texas A&M on Wednesday afternoon at Davis Diamond. 

There were a combined six errors in the ballgame. 

"I thought we had really low energy," Texas A&M head coach Jo Evans said. "We scored quick and then struck out three times looking. We just didn't make adjustments when we needed to."

The Aggies started hot in the circle as starting pitcher Grace Uribe worked a 1-2-3 top of the first inning. 

In the bottom of the first, facing a full-count, two-hole hitter Haley Lee smashed a two-run blast to give A&M an early 2-0 lead. It was Lee's team-leading seventh bomb of the season. 

"Early leads are something we talk a lot about, being aggressive early in the game and putting our foot on the gas to try to score early on," Lee said. "It builds a strong foundation that allows us to have some of those errors and make mistakes and not make us feel so pressured when we do."

Texas A&M had the opportunity to add insurance in the second inning but failed to capitalize on three consecutive walks as Huskies pitcher Sarah Venker escaped a bases-loaded jam. The Aggies stranded eight runners on the day.  

A four-base error by the Ags in the fourth inning gifted Houston Baptist a pair of runs to tie the game. Uribe then followed with her fourth strikeout of the day to retire the Huskies and extinguish any further damage. 

Searching for an answer, a fielding error allowed Lee to score the go-ahead run. Wiggins then slapped an RBI double to center field to jump back in front. 

As Kayla Poynter relieved Uribe in the circle, the Huskies then knotted the game a second time behind a two-run homer by Caitlyn Brockway. 

Fortunately, the Aggies were on the receiving end of a final miscue as Wiggins walked it off on HBU's fourth error in the bottom of the seventh. 

Though the mental mistakes were rampant and the win came slim, Evans remains optimistic heading back into conference action. 

"The silver lining is we found a way to win. We kept fighting and found a way to get somebody on base to win a ball game," Evans said. "But these kinds of games here are challenging games when you feel like you should win and then you don't play with intensity."

The Aggies head to Athens on Friday to begin a three-game road series at No. 17 Georgia.