(This story was updated with new information)

As Texas A&M baseball continues to fight for its NCAA Tournament hopes, the Aggies have lost a key member of their team.

In the top of the fifth inning of Thursday’s SEC baseball tournament game vs. No. 10 Auburn, Aggies star outfielder Jace LaViolette exited the game with an apparent hand injury after taking a pitch off his hand from Tigers’ left-hander pitcher Carson Myers.

After Thursday’s win vs. Auburn, Texas A&M manager Michael Earley told the SEC Network that LaViolette will miss the remainder of the conference tournament, confirming an earlier suspicion once LaViolette returned to the Aggies’ dugout in the seventh inning wrapped up in a split.

REQURIED READING: SEC Baseball Tournament games today: Scores, TV schedule, bracket for second round

LaViolette is one of the more recognizable names in the Aggies’ offense, and entered Thursday’s game with a .259 batting average and 18 home runs. He is ranked as the No. 7 prospect in this year’s upcoming MLB draft by MLB Pipeline.

Texas A&M staved off a solo ninth-inning home run to beat Auburn 3-2 at Hoover Met Stadium in Hoover, Alabama. The Aggies’ win advanced them to Friday’s quarterfinals vs. No. 3 seed LSU, the No. 1 nationally ranked team in the country.

Here’s the latest on Laviolette’s injury:

LaViolette left Texas A&M’s second-round game vs. Auburn on Thursday with an apparent hand injury. The SEC Network Broadcast showed LaViolette attempting to swing at a pitch before the ball came in on him and hit him off his knuckles and the knob of the bat.

After initially taking a pitch to his hand during an at-bat, LaViolette trotted down to first base while showing signs of pain. The SEC Network broadcast then showed LaViolette signaling to the Aggies’ dugout that he couldn’t stay in the game.

He was replaced at first by pinch runner Jamal George, who would then enter the game in LaViolette’s place in the lineup the next half inning. After a lengthy time away from the dugout for X-rays, LaViolette was shown on the SEC Network broadcast returning to the dugout in the seventh inning with his left hand all wrapped up with a splint.

ESPN’s Kris Budden reported earlier on the SEC Network’s broadcast that LaViolette left the Aggies’ dugout for further testing after initially entering and going to sit on the bench once he came off the field.

“There is an X-Ray machine onsite so he does not have to leave and go to the hospital to have it checked out. He has not come back here in the dugout,” Budden reported. “When that happened, this place was so silent that from across the field that I could hear Jace screaming out in pain.”

Michael Earley on Jace LaViolette’s injury

After Texas A&M’s 3-2 win against Auburn on Thursday, Aggies manager Michael Earley told the SEC Network that LaViolette will miss the remainder of the conference tournament.

“I’m not sure if I can say but he will be out for the remainder of the tournament,” Earley said.

What is Jace LaViolette’s injury?

While it has not been confirmed by Texas A&M, it appears that LaViolette sustained a hand injury in Thursday’s SEC tournament game.

AUSTIN – Texas lawmakers made progress on several bills Wednesday, including one regarding public school funding.

More discussion remains before those bills are passed. As the end of the legislative session approaches, Texas lawmakers are working to get multiple key pieces of legislation passed. 

House Bill 2: Public School Funding

On Wednesday, it was announced that a tentative deal was struck regarding HB 2, known as the public school funding bill.

The compromise between the House and Senate includes the Senate’s proposed $55 per student increase to the basic allotment, compared to the House’s original allotment of $350.

The compromise also decreases the House’s original plan to increase teacher pay from $4.4 billion to $4.2 billion.

However, it adds $500,000 for fixed costs, bringing the total amount to $8.5 billion. 

Some of the issues were first raised during a hearing over the Senate’s plan last week, when some district leaders suggested a higher per-student allotment, giving schools more flexibility.

The bill is expected to be taken up on the Senate floor Thursday. 

What they’re saying:

West Hardin CISD Superintendent Donald Heseman spoke on the bill.

“If you picture every ISD as a boat, I think Barbers Hill might be a cruise ship and we are a johnboat. Paint Creek might be a kayak, but we all have leaks. We all have leaks. In doing the basic allotment, we can fill those holes as needed. 

Senate Bill 3: THC Ban

In reaching this compromise, it opened the door for discussion on the Senate’s tougher THC bill, SB 3, which equates to a total ban on THC products. 

This bill is a priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who claims that CBD stores and vape shops are selling higher concentrations of THC than the legal consumable limit. 

After the chambers brokered a deal earlier in the day, the House took up the bill Wednesday night. At the time of reporting, the bill was still being actively discussed.

What they’re saying:

“I want people to have access to medications to help them when they have medical conditions, that those medications can be a benefit,” said Rep. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress) “What we’re doing here is correcting a problem that we created in 2019 where we essentially created a pathway by which people could sell drugs.” 

What’s next:

More is to come tomorrow, and the legislative session ends June 2. 

Kala Hunter did not hesitate to get her 2-year-old son, Brady, fully vaccinated in March as the number of measles cases grew in her West Texas community.

“Being in the hotbed of the measles outbreak,” said Hunter, 47, of Lubbock, “it was a no-brainer. If it was safe to get him vaccinated early, we were going to protect him.”

Harmony Montes, 21, also of Lubbock, said she felt the same way. As the outbreak escalated in April, Montes jumped at the chance to get her daughter, Melody Rocha, vaccinated at her six-month checkup. 

“We didn’t hesitate at all,” Montes said. “I wasn’t going to risk her health.”

The moms represent a recent surge in Texas parents opting to get their babies and toddlers the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination as soon as possible.

Hunter said that her child’s doctor assured her that the second vaccine dose was safe.

“I trust my pediatrician,” she said. Neither kid has had side effects like fever or rash from the shot, Hunter and Montes said.

New data from Truveta, a health care and analytics company, shows that the percentage of 6-month-old babies in Texas getting their measles vaccination in April increased by more than 30 times the prior year’s average.

“That means parents aren’t just getting the vaccine early, they’re getting it as early as they can,” Nina Masters, a senior scientist at Truveta and part of the research team, said in an interview with NBC News.

Typically, the MMR is given in two doses, around a child’s first birthday, and again around the time a child enters kindergarten, at age 4 or 5. One dose is 93% effective at preventing measles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A second dose increases protection to 97%.

During measles outbreaks, however, the first dose can be given as early as 6 months old. If a child has already received the first dose at 12 months, doctors can give the second dose about a month later, said Dr. Ronald Cook, chief health officer at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock and health authority for the city.

“Public health measures, which include vaccinations, stop the spread of the virus, even in areas with outbreaks of measles,” Cook said.

Most of the time, fewer than 2% of infants get vaccinated early for measles, according to the Truveta data. The company used its access to electronic health record information for tens of thousands of infants in Texas to assess early vaccination uptake in the state. That low percentage isn’t surprising as the shots aren’t generally given early unless there’s an outbreak.

The data shows that early vaccinations of Texan infants 6 to 11 months old ticked up in February as word of the outbreak spread. The number increased even more in March, and by April, it was exponentially higher than vaccination percentages before the outbreak began.