Aggie Duo Earns NCBWA All-America Honors

DALLAS – Texas A&M outfielders Braden Montgomery and Jace LaViolette have been named Preseason All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, as announced Tuesday.
 
With the selection, the duo becomes the first pair of Aggie teammates to be named unanimous Preseason All-Americans in program history.
 
Montgomery, who earned a spot on the first team, joined the Maroon & White this offseason after helping Stanford to back-to-back College World Series appearances. In 2023, the Madison, Mississippi, native hit .364 with 17 home runs and 61 RBI in 64 games. On the mound, Montgomery made 10 appearances and struck out 19 hitters in only 14.0 innings of work. 
 
Among the Pac-12, the junior ranked inside the top 10 in runs scored (70), hits (82), RBI, home runs, total bases (149) and walks (51). Montgomery, who garnered ABCA All-America honors in 2023 and was a member of the USA Collegiate National Team, also registered 27 multi-hit games, 16 multi-RBI contests and closed the season with a 28-game on-base streak.  
 
LaViolette, who was selected to the third team, was one of the nation's premier freshmen a season ago as the Katy, Texas, native slashed .287/.414/.632 and belted a Texas A&M single-season freshman record 21 home runs. In addition to leading the team in homers, LaViolette also topped the 2023 squad in RBI (63) and stolen bases (18). 

The sophomore, who was tabbed as a Freshman All-American by four different publications and named to the USA Collegiate National Team, ranked inside the top 10 among the SEC in homers, RBI and walks (48). During conference play, LaViolette led all players with an .835 slugging percentage. 

The Aggies are set to open their 2024 campaign at Blue Bell Park against McNeese Friday, Feb. 16 at 6 p.m.