Texas A&M Aggies left fielder Caden Sorrell (13) and right fielder Jace Laviolette (17) celebrate after a run scored by Laviolette against the Tennessee Volunteers during the third inning at Charles Schwab Field Omaha Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Inside Jace LaViolette’s SEC Tournament Grand Slam for Texas A&M Aggies

Originally posted on Texas A&M Aggies on SI
By DJ Burton | Last updated May 22, 2025 9:00 AM ET

Texas A&M baseball beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs decidedly in their SEC Tournament bout on Wednesday.

In the second inning, junior center fielder Jace LaViolette smashed a grand slam to increase the A&M lead to six.

“I spend a lot of time with [coach Michael Earley],” LaViolette said after the game. “We work together all the time and its just being on the fast ball and trusting myself. I think I did a lot better job with that today and just got to keep doing that going forward.”

Laviolette’s knock snapped his 18-at-bat hitless streak, something he and Earley had been working towards.

”He was hitting backwards,” Earley said. “He was taking the strikes and swinging at the balls. He was just in a funk… I thought it was a great at-bat for him.”

Heading into the season, LaViolette was projected to be the top collegiate prospect in the 2025 MLB Draft. After the regular season, he had fallen down to the seventh spot.

“As long as I can stick to the approach… of always being on the fast ball and just trying to get my swing off, I think that I can play at any level, any time,” Laviolette said.

With the MLB Draft set to start July 13, each win buys LaViolette time to crawl back to his top-ranked spot.

The Aggies are set to face off against the Auburn Tigers on Thursday at 11 a.m. in the second round of the tournament. If the Fightin’ Farmers want to continue playing baseball this season, they will likely need to make it to the championship round.

This article first appeared on Texas A&M Aggies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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