Kaylynn Jones had not hit a home run in her previous 119 collegiate at-bats. 

Instead, she waited until an appearance against Oregon’s fiercest opponent to get her first.  

Jones hit her first homer in the bottom of the fourth in Oregon’s 9-0 run-rule win over UCLA. After Ayanna Shaw and Katie Flannery both reached base, Jones slapped a ball to right-center that carried out for a three-run homer and extended the lead to seven.

With an easy swing on a middle-middle fastball in the fourth inning, Jones broke open Oregon’s biggest game of the season to date. 

“It was great,” Jones said. “I was just trying to focus on a sac fly, trying to score our runners and just to have that feeling of hitting it out felt great.”

Jones is hitting .300 on the season — one of nine Ducks hitting at or above that number — while adding stout defense. 

Home runs are not why the Ducks long coveted Jones  in high school at Denton Guyer High School. Home runs were not one of the primary factors they thought they were acquiring when the freshman made her Ducks debut on opening day. 

Her positional versatility, contact-hitting abilities and Gold Glove-caliber defense across the diamond are what the program valued most when she committed. Plays like on Sunday when Jones fielded a ground ball from her second base position, tagged the runner that was at first and threw out the batter were what head coach Melyssa Lombardi expected — now the untapped power is just a bonus. 

“Kaylynn is a gritty, fearless competitor. She knows how to handle pressure and perform in the biggest moment,” Lombardi said of Jones in a press release when she committed to Oregon. “Her softball IQ is off the charts. She has the ability to hit the ball for power and drive in runs. With her speed, she has the ability to turn singles into doubles. Her athleticism gives her the ability to play up the middle and in the outfield and she will be a fan favorite at The Jane.”

“We knew she had that power … we were waiting for it,” outfielder Kedre Luschar said of Jones after the game. 

Jones’ breakout campaign has been one of the many storylines of Oregon’s remarkable 2025. Now, with Oregon’s postseason campaign two weeks away, she’s finding her power at just the right time. 

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