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Jared Jones recaps walk-off hit following LSU's College World Series win over Arkansas
Jared Jones broke out of a slump from the beginning of the College World Series to send LSU baseball back to the finals with a win Wednesday over Arkansas.
Prior to the Tigers' contest against UCLA, Jones discussed his struggles at the plate with head coach Jay Johnson. He totaled four RBI, two hits, and a home run against the Bruins.
"Coach Johnson and I have had several heart-to-heart conversations throughout my career here at LSU," Jones said. "Most of the time it's been behind closed doors."
With Gabe Gaeckle on the mound during Wednesday's eighth inning, Jones focused on finding the right pitch. Of the five times he struck out against the Razorbacks to open in Omaha, two of them were against Gaeckle on the slider.
"I hadn't been seeing Gaeckle very well this week," Jones said. "My approach is always to be on time for a fastball and I was lucky enough to get one in the zone and put a good swing on it to tie the game."
Jones crushed a solo home run in the eighth to tie the game at three runs apiece. He rose to the challenge again with two outs and the winning run on second base in the bottom of the ninth. Against Aiden Jimenez, who Jones called "a great pitcher," Jones drove a pitch into center field to send the Tigers into celebration.
"Gotta respect is slider and was able to just kind of stay on it and do just enough to get over the second baseman's head and that's about it," Jones said.
