BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- When most young boys begin playing baseball, they dream of one day playing the game they love professionally. For Samford senior pitcher Stephen Jones, he got that chance at the end of his junior season when the Philadelphia Phillies selected him in the 38^th round of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft.
 
Jones, however, decided to come back to Samford to complete his degree and play his final season in a Bulldog uniform. Jones said it was a decision he did not take lightly.
 
"It was a tough decision, it took me about a month to make the decision," Jones said. "I took the whole time, and I would say the main thing was probably getting my degree first, so I wouldn't have that in the back of my mind that I had a year left with school after going to play baseball. Also, I wasn't quite as healthy as I wanted to be, I was just kind of getting through the season. I was just hoping I could be healthy this season, have a good year and then go a little higher this year."
 
When Jones came back, he faced a change in his role on the Samford pitching staff. The Tallahassee, Florida, native was a starter for the Bulldogs during his first three seasons, but with the departure of last season's closer, Wyatt Burns, Jones was asked to make the move to the bullpen.
 
Jones said when the coaches first talked to him about becoming the team's closer, he was open to the idea, but was not completely sure he would be able to do it.
 
"It was a question mark in my mind because I just didn't know if I was going to be able to throw every day and how my arm was going to react to that," Jones said. "It was difficult from a physical aspect because I had surgery in August to clean up my shoulder so I didn't throw all fall. So, I didn't know if I would be able to bounce back."
 
Jones has made the transition smoothly. Following the regular season, Jones leads the Southern Conference and is tied for sixth in the nation in saves with 13. He has posted a 2.51 earned run average and a 2-0 record in 32.1 innings of work. He has recorded 30 strikeouts, while allowing just 10 walks and has limiting opposing batters to just a .216 batting average.
 
"I've been able to do it," Jones said. "It's been cool, and I definitely like closing better than starting. I wish I would have known that three years ago. I was unsure going into it because I always loved starting. But this has just been great."
 
Like most young boys, Jones started playing baseball at an early age. His father was more of a tennis player, but his brother, Thomas, was always into baseball and influenced Jones to start playing the sport that would eventually bring him to Samford University.
 
Jones played football early as well, but baseball was always his favorite sport. He played several different positions growing up, but an injury forced him to concentrate on the position that he has become known for ever since.
 
"In my first two years of high school I played outfield and first base," Jones said. "My junior year, I got hurt and then I just pitched the rest of the way."
 
Jones went on to star at Chiles High School in Tallahassee. His fastball registered at high of around 90 miles per hour, and when he signed was described by the Samford coaching staff as "a big, strong, right-handed pitcher with great instincts for the game."
 
When it came time to decide where to attend college, for Jones, a personal connection made the difference in deciding to come to Samford.
 
"My mom actually went here," Jones said. "My high school visited here too and my head coach had a connection here too, he coached here with Coach (Gerald) Tuck back in the day. They were good friends so he got us up here and I fell in love with the campus and it was just kind of where I wanted to be."
 
As a freshman in 2016, Jones appeared in 17 games, including 11 starts on the mound. He posted a 4-2 record and a 4.11 ERA, tossing 57.0 innings for the Bulldogs. Not only was it a smooth transition on the field for Jones, but he says it was a smooth transition, academically, for him as well.
 
"I would say I was always a pretty good student, so it was just kind of more focusing on that I didn't have my parents around," Jones said. "In baseball, I was coming off of Tommy John surgery, so I needed to kind of figure that out, throwing every day and my arm getting used to it. It was interesting, but I think it definitely was a good change."
 
Jones won four games again in 2017, and three more in 2018. The 2018 season, his junior campaign, Jones and the Bulldogs won just the program's second Southern Conference Tournament title and earned the team's second NCAA Tournament bid. Jones said it was a special experience to get to bring the program a conference title and NCAA appearance.
 
"Coach Dunn always talks about how the season has three different parts," Jones said. "The first two are non-conference and then conference play. Then you have the tournament, and it was crazy to see how we showed up like a completely different team in the last part. Winning the four-straight games and then run-ruling Mercer is something I'll never forget. I think a lot of guys feel the same way, it was awesome."
 
The team then got the chance to play in Jones' hometown at the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, hosted by Florida State University. The Bulldogs stunned seventh-ranked Florida State, 7-6 in the first round of the regional.
 
This season, the Bulldogs have built on last season's success, winning a school-record 39 regular-season games, just two short of the school record for a complete season of 41, set by the 2012 team. The team has also won the program's first SoCon regular-season title and enter this week's SoCon Tournament as the No. 1 seed. Jones said he and his teammates know nothing is guaranteed in the tournament and they have to be ready to compete if they hope to make a second-straight NCAA Regional appearance.
 
"We know that last year UNCG came in as the No. 1 seed and got beat by Western Carolina twice, so we're all just kind of making sure that we're keeping our foot on the gas so we don't get into that situation," Jones said. "We've done great through the first two parts of the season, but at this point it doesn't really matter what we've done unless we hold the trophy at the end of the tournament. I think from a standpoint of pitching and our lineup, for the most part, we've been there, so we're all excited about it."
 
Samford will open play in the Southern Conference Tournament Wednesday, taking on Western Carolina. Wednesday's game will be played at 8 a.m. (CT)/9 a.m. (ET) at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C. To follow Jones and the Bulldogs throughout the week, click on the link below.
 
SOCON TOURNAMENT CENTRAL