Jace LaViolette injury update: Texas A&M baseball star breaks hand in SEC tournament vs Auburn
(This story was updated with new information)
As Texas A&M baseball continues to fight for its NCAA Tournament hopes, the Aggies have lost a key member of their team.
In the top of the fifth inning of Thursday's SEC baseball tournament game vs. No. 10 Auburn, Aggies star outfielder Jace LaViolette exited the game with an apparent hand injury after taking a pitch off his hand from Tigers' left-hander pitcher Carson Myers.
After Thursday's win vs. Auburn, Texas A&M manager Michael Earley told the SEC Network that LaViolette will miss the remainder of the conference tournament, confirming an earlier suspicion once LaViolette returned to the Aggies' dugout in the seventh inning wrapped up in a split.
LaViolette is one of the more recognizable names in the Aggies' offense, and entered Thursday's game with a .259 batting average and 18 home runs. He is ranked as the No. 7 prospect in this year's upcoming MLB draft by MLB Pipeline.
Texas A&M staved off a solo ninth-inning home run to beat Auburn 3-2 at Hoover Met Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. The Aggies' win advanced them to Friday's quarterfinals vs. No. 3 seed LSU, the No. 1 nationally ranked team in the country.
Here's the latest on Laviolette's injury:
Jace LaViolette injury update
LaViolette left Texas A&M's second-round game vs. Auburn on Thursday with an apparent hand injury. The SEC Network Broadcast showed LaViolette attempting to swing at a pitch before the ball came in on him and hit him off his knuckles and the knob of the bat.
After initially taking a pitch to his hand during an at-bat, LaViolette trotted down to first base while showing signs of pain. The SEC Network broadcast then showed LaViolette signaling to the Aggies' dugout that he couldn't stay in the game.
He was replaced at first by pinch runner Jamal George, who would then enter the game in LaViolette's place in the lineup the next half inning. After a lengthy time away from the dugout for X-rays, LaViolette was shown on the SEC Network broadcast returning to the dugout in the seventh inning with his left hand all wrapped up with a splint.
ESPN's Kris Budden reported earlier on the SEC Network's broadcast that LaViolette left the Aggies' dugout for further testing after initially entering and going to sit on the bench once he came off the field.
"There is an X-Ray machine onsite so he does not have to leave and go to the hospital to have it checked out. He has not come back here in the dugout," Budden reported. "When that happened, this place was so silent that from across the field that I could hear Jace screaming out in pain."
Michael Earley on Jace LaViolette's injury
After Texas A&M's 3-2 win against Auburn on Thursday, Aggies manager Michael Earley told the SEC Network that LaViolette will miss the remainder of the conference tournament.
"I'm not sure if I can say but he will be out for the remainder of the tournament," Earley said.
What is Jace LaViolette's injury?
During the Texas-Tennessee quarterfinal game, ESPN's Kris Budden reported that Earley told reporters at the SEC tournament during his postgame news conference that LaViolette fractured his left hand.
"Yeah, he got an X-ray, he broke his hand, so he'll be out. We're going to see what we're going to do with it. I don't know if there's a situation where we get him operated on how what we're going capacity where he's able to pinch run as long as we're able to pad it up and he's safe and can't injure it," Earley said in his postgame news conference on LaViolette's prognosis. "That, I don't know at this moment, but he's not going to be in the starting lineup for this tournament. But we think if if we can get this done, then we might be able to get him back for the postseason."