Southern Arkansas University Athletics

When it came time to take his talents to the collegiate level, Cody Jones didn't have to travel far as the Springhill, Louisiana native crossed state lines and headed northeast up Arkansas Hwy 371 to Southern Arkansas University. In four seasons for the Mulerider Baseball team, Jones solidified himself as one of the top hurlers in program history.
 
In 2006, Jones earned All-America Third-Team honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) which made him the first Mulerider in the program's NCAA Era (1995-96) to earn national recognition. Those honors followed first team All-South Central Region selection from both organizations as well as All-Gulf South Conference West Division First-Team plaudits.
 
That sophomore year, his best statistically as a Mulerider starting pitcher, saw Jones post a 12-3 record with nine complete games and a single-season program-best four shutouts. He coupled that with a 2.98 ERA in 126.2 innings of work; a single-season program record for innings pitched. The left-hander fanned 115 which at the time was a program record and now stands as the third-most in a single season. Jones remains one of only four pitchers to reach the century mark in single-season strikeouts.
 
That 2006 campaign also saw Jones become the third Mulerider pitcher to toss a no-hitter, and he remains one of only five to accomplish the feat, as he blanked Central Arkansas on February 21 in Conway which aided him in being named the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week.
 
Over the next two seasons, Jones would earn two more All-GAC West Division honors with an additional first-team accolade coming during his senior season of 2008; a year that also saw him named a Daktronics All-South Central Region First Teamer and SAU's Auburn Smith Male Athlete of the Year.
 
No Mulerider pitcher has taken to the mound in a starting role more than Jones' 52 starts nor has a Mulerider pitcher thrown as many innings as Jones' 368.1. He is one of just six pitchers to appear in at least 56 games throughout a career and his 32 career wins are the second-most all-time only bested by fellow SAU Sports Hall of Famer Hayden Simpson's 35. Additionally, Jones tossed six shutouts; the second-most all-time, while his 269 strikeouts rank third in program history and are the second-most ever among Mulerider southpaws.