Jace LaViolette: Aggies would ‘run through a brick wall’ for Michael Earley

Jace LaViolette doesn’t need anyone to remind him that Texas A&M has had a disappointing season to this point. However, those disappointments are not going to keep LaViolette and the Aggies from fighting for each other and their head coach, Michael Earley.

Entering the SEC Baseball Tournament, the preseason No. 1 team in the country found itself as the 14th seed in the new 16-team SEC. It’s also not a guarantee that the Aggies will find themselves in the NCAA Tournament if they fail to win the automatic bid available in Hoover.

Despite those disappointments, LaViolette was not ready to pin the blame on anyone, especially his head coach:

“This season hasn’t gone how we want it to go, but, at the same time, I still have full faith and believe that he’s the best coach in the nation, and I’m going to try to win for him,” said LaViolette after a first-round win over Mississippi State. “I just think things haven’t gone our way, and that’s baseball, that’s life.”

LaViolette was the big star of Texas A&M’s win on Wednesday, blasting a majestic grand slam to stake the Aggies to a 6-0 lead before cruising to a dominant shutout. That’s the kind of fight LaViolette expects out of his teammates as they try to win big for Earley.

“We’re not going to stop playing until they tell us we’re not allowed to. I think you saw that today,” said LaViolette. “… We will never stop fighting, especially for that guy. I think we’ll all run through a brick wall for that guy if he tells us to.”

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Earley’s group has certainly underwhelmed in his first season ever as a head coach, replacing Jim Schlossnagle, who unceremoniously bolted for Texas after last season. However, he still has the support of his players, and they’re trying to put together a memorable late-season run to the College World Series.

For now, Texas A&M lives to fight another day and will square off against Auburn in 2nd-round action on Thursday.

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.