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OMAHA, NEB. -- When his Aggie career is over, Jace LaViolette may well be Texas A&M's career leader in home runs. But as far as singular moments go, he'll probably be remembered for a play with his glove.
LaViolette's remarkable catch to steal a home run from Florida second baseman Cade Kurland with one out in the top of the ninth preserved a 3-2 Aggie win in their opening game at the College World Series and created a highlight college baseball fans will see for a long time.
With a runner on first, Kurland ripped a hanging curveball from Aggie closer Evan Aschenbeck to right field.
"Off the bat, (I thought it was a) homer," A&M coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
On Friday, it probably was. But after a four-hour rain delay and the wind blowing in, Kurland's blast started to hang in the air. LaViolette, who had been playing back anyway, drifted to the wall, felt for it with his left arm, and leapt.
When he came down with the ball and fired it back into the infield, Kurland looked out at LaViolette with a combination of shock and disgust.
Two batters later, Aschenbeck had shut the door on the Gators and preserved a win the Gators thought they had.
"I thought (Kurland) had it because he never reacts like that when he hits one; he kind of just puts his head down and rounds the bases," Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "He thought he got it; I thought he got it. The right fielder made a heck of a play."
It was almost a catch that never happened.
"I got the total wrong read off the bat, I'm not gonna lie," LaViolette said. "I looked up and saw it and thought, 'This might be a homer,' and my heart kind of dropped for a second."
But, as LaViolette got to the wall, he saw that the ball was starting die in the breeze.
"This ballpark plays a lot bigger than it actually is, I think the wind knocked it down a little bit," he said. "I didn't know if I had a play, and then...it was really cool."
For Aschenbeck, the initial reaction was horror, then relief.
"He got that one pretty good, but thankfully we had Jace out there," he said. "It was awesome to see him go up and snag that ball. I'll definitely have to give him a hug later."
For A&M's starting pitcher, LaViolette's catch brought about a pretty basic baseball reaction.
"He put a good swing on it, and I saw Lav kind of trace back on it, and when it hit his glove, we all just threw our hats off and gave him our caps," Justin Lamkin said.
Schlossnagle succinctly summed his feelings on the catch.
"I'm glad he's 6-foot-5," he said of LaVIolette. "I don't think (5-foot-7 centerfield Travis) Chestnut gets that one."
