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BYU sophomore Easton Jones takes a swing in a Big 12 baseball game against Oklahoma at Miller Park on Friday, April 19, 2024.

Ashlee Jarvis, BYU Photo

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BYU sophomore third baseman Easton Jones prepares for a pitch during a Big 12 baseball game against Oklahoma at Miller Park on Friday, April 19, 2024.

Ashlee Jarvis, BYU Photo

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BYU sophomore third baseman Easton Jones prepares for a pitch during a Big 12 baseball game against Oklahoma at Miller Park on Friday, April 19, 2024.

Ashlee Jarvis, BYU Photo

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For BYU sophomore third baseman Easton Jones, his greatest teacher has been repetition.

Last summer, Jones played for the Slyvan Lake Gulls, a Canadian wooden bat league for college players near Calgary, Alberta, that competes from the end of May to the middle of August.

The additional at-bats paid off: Coming into Monday’s game against Abilene Christian, Jones was leading the Cougars in hits (46), home runs (12), total bases (91), slugging percentage (.599) and on-base percentage (.398). He was second on the club in hitting at .303 and raised his average to .308 with a 2-for-4 day against the Wildcats, driving in a pair of runs in an 8-6 victory at Miller Park.

In 56 games with the Gulls last summer, Jones turned in 180 at-bats (plus 15 more in the playoffs) and was able to focus solely on his stroke.

“I’d just wake up at 11 o’clock,” Jones said. “They give you a free gym pass so you can go and get a little workout. Then you go on the field and take batting practice, then you play the game. Then I’d stay up late and do it all over again.”

Jones numbers have all taken a big jump from his freshman season, when he hit .269.

“Summer league is like professional baseball,” BYU coach Trent Pratt said. “There’s nothing to distract you and there’s less pressure. You can go play, just get away and figure things out. At the end of the day, you need to be your best hitting coach so you can understand your swing and what you want to do. All those at-bats in the summer, that’s crucial for our kids. It’s experience, and you can’t teach experience. You just go out and play every day and that’s really helped Easton this year.”

Jones also credited new hitting coach Tyler Coolbaugh and his own growth for the increased numbers.

“Coach Coolbaugh just kind of unlocked me with all these different things,” Jones said. “But I think the biggest thing is I matured a little bit more from last year. I still feel like I’m kind of growing into myself and my body.”

Jones also played basketball and football growing up but seemed destined to play baseball: His father is Mitch Jones, who starred with Utah Valley and Arizona State before being taken in the seventh round of the major league draft in 2000. The elder Jones played ten years in professional baseball with the Yankees, Dodgers, Braves and Pirates organizations.

Easton Jones played for Jarod Ingersoll at American Fork, winning state championships in 2020 and 2021.

“Coach Ingersoll taught us that the game of baseball is hard,” Jones said. “Everything about it is hard. You can come out one day and get four hits with four rockets and the next day you can strike out four times. He just taught us to bounce back quick.”

Jones played on a team of stars that included Fisher Ingersoll and Ryder Robinson (TCU) and Kaden Carpenter (Utah). But Pratt had his eye on Jones.

“We saw Easton getting better every year,” Pratt said. “He wasn’t heavily recruited and was kind of a late bloomer physically. But every time I saw him, he was better than before. I played with his dad at Arizona State. So I know Mitch was a big power guy and you saw that Easton had those same attributes. So he was going to develop and get better.

“He does a really good job of controlling the strike zone and he’s a strong kid. He’s still going to grow and get stronger. So the sky is the limit for him.”

Easton Jones has been a regular starter at third base as well for the Cougars, but it’s his bat that has drawn the most attention.

“I think I’m maturing mentally as a player,” Jones said. “Getting more reps in summer ball and coming back, I was just more prepared this year. I really like the every day grind of just coming here. Some days, you don’t feel your best and some days you feel good. So you have to try and come every day with the same intensity.”

BYU 8, Abilene Christian 6

The Cougars led 8-0 after five innings then fought off a late comeback attempt by the Wildcats to earn the home victory on Monday.

Abilene Christian (27-18), which was coming off a three-game Western Athletic Conference sweep of Utah Tech and had won five games in a row, saw eight consecutive batters reach base in the top of the sixth to trim the BYU lead to 8-6.

The Cougars used eight pitchers in the game. Luke Sterner went 1 2/3 innings and struck out four to get the win. Closer Stone Cushing took over in the ninth, and after walking the first batter to put the tying run at the plate recorded three straight outs (two by strikeout) for his eighth save.

Jones and Luke Anderson both had 2-RBI singles for the Cougars (17-24), who travel to Miami for a three-game non-league set against the Hurricanes starting Thursday.

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