With a 2-2 count in the bottom of the seventh inning and the bases loaded, Texas A&M preseason All-American Jace LaViolette did what he does best, take a hard hack.
Immediately, he knew it was the wrong decision. The 89-mile per hour fastball was high and should have been the third ball of the at-bat. The result was a foul ball and new life.
For a sophomore who has quickly made a name for himself in Aggieland for the balls he launched over the fence, he ultimately won Saturday’s game for the Aggies by keeping the bat on his shoulder.
“I think anyway that you can score runs … everybody loves the home runs, right?” LaViolette said. “I do, too. I mean, they’re really cool. They’re awesome. But I also love the singles, the walks, anyway that I can produce a run to have this team win.”
The Aggie baseball team took the second game of its opening-weekend series over McNeese State 6-1 with the game-winning run crossing home after LaViolette drew a bases-loaded walk.
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Drawing from the energy of a sellout crowd Friday, the sophomore kicked off his second campaign in Aggieland with a pair of home runs. He blasted a team-high 21 in his freshman season with A&M (2-0). That same energy also pulled two strikeouts out of the long ball threat.
Those clutch moments, surrounded with the soundtrack of the Blue Bell Park crowd, are special to LaViolette, he said. Maturity comes with keeping the heart rate down while embracing those moments.
“I just had to calm myself down,” LaViolette said. “It’s a lot of fun to play in front of the fans and everything, but sometimes I can get a little sped up from it, but I love to just get back into my routine and figure everything out within the box.”
The next pitch came so close to brushing the inside corner of the plate, that McNeese relief pitcher Caleb Strmiska began to make his way to the Cowboy dugout. Home plate umpire William Posey stood his ground. The next pitch was just a little bit more over the plate, but crossed narrowly below LaViolette’s knees. The Aggie two-hole hitter and Strmiska could have met at the first-base line as LaViolette made his way toward first and the pitcher, again, attempted to leave the field after what he believed was an inning-ending strike.
In the meantime, what would be the game-winning run came across the plate.
“That could have probably went 50-50,” LaViolette said of the 2-2 call. “I’ll give it to him. I thought the umpire made the right call.”
A stiff northern wind and temperatures in the low 40s made offense a struggle for both teams. After hitting five home runs in the season opener, the Aggies could not blast one through the wind Saturday.
A&M didn’t break the scoring ice until the fifth, when a double from freshman catcher Max Kaufer traded positions with second baseman Ryan Targac, who had reached second on a double of his own in the previous at-bat.
A day after an emphatic Aggie shutout, the Cowboys scored their first run of the series in the seventh. Leadoff hitter Braden Duhon flared a single up the middle, which scored left fielder Connor Westenburg from second, tying the game at 1-1.
“Really tough day to hit,” Aggies head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “I mean, tough day to hit for both teams. I thought their starting pitcher was outstanding. Really good breaking ball that was giving us fits.”
A night removed from a 15-0 Aggie offensive onslaught, McNeese starting pitcher Cameron LeJune used a tight-spinning breaking ball to keep Aggie hitters off balance. A&M recorded three hits through the first four innings and stranded three runners on base. For his effort, LeJune tallied eight strikeouts in the five-inning outing.
“Really good breaking ball and you couldn’t see it,” Schlossnagle said. “Gyro spin, they call it now. Gyro-slider, where you can’t see the spin on it and it, sometimes, breaks to the left and sometimes it goes straight down.”
The Cowboys paired that with some unique defensive shifts through the opening frames, which included sending first baseman Chase Keeton into right field and playing with four outfielders at the same depth.
Schlossnagle said it’s an alignment he used two years prior against LSU.
A&M starter Justin Lamkin kept the Cowboys (0-2) off the board through his 3 2/3 innings, though without efficiency. He was pulled in favor of reliever Evan Aschenbeck with the bases loaded in the fourth after throwing 75 pitches. Aschenbeck, A&M’s bullpen stalwart from last season, worked out of the jam with a weak groundout.
LaViolette’s two-out walk was the momentum shift the Aggie bats needed. Transfer outfielder Braden Montgomery, coming off a home run Friday night, looped a double into the outfield, scoring Kaeden Kent and Jackson Appel. LaViolette ultimately did end the inning on a tag play at the plate on the double.
“He’s been pitched every kind of way and those are tough pitches to take,” Schlossnagle said of the LaViolette walk. “That’s part of the game, but I thought, for the most part, most of our at-bats were really good and sometimes the other team is going to pitch really well.”
The Aggies added insurance in the eighth on a throwing error off a swing by Ryan Targac and an RBI single from shortstop Ali Camarillo.
Arizona State transfer Brock Perry (1-0) picked up the win after throwing 2/3 of an inning in the seventh. Zane Badmaev closed out the final two innings, allowing one hit and no runs.
McNeese reliever Ty Abraham (0-1) was handed the loss.
Blue Bell Park opens up again Sunday for a 1 p.m. series finale with the Aggies looking to pick up a sweep. Sophomore Shane Sdao (4-1, 4.78 ERA in 2023) will take the mound first for the Aggies. McNeese did not name a probable starter for the game.
Along with two wins, the Aggies carry the confidence of finding different ways to produce offense into their third game of the season.
“We’re going to hit our share of homers, but to think you’re going to win games a lot like you did last night — not very often,” Schlossnagle said.
