Francis Marion University athletic officials recently announced that former men’s soccer defender Kirk Bevington and baseball pitcher Erin Jones are the newest inductees into the FMU Athletic Hall of Fame for 2015.
Jones, a local product from Dillon, set FMU career marks for wins (29), complete games (29), innings (334), and strikeout (315) while playing three years for the Patriots from 2002 to 2004.
Jones played three seasons as a Patriot after transferring from Coastal Carolina University. He posted a 29-14 career record with a 2.75 earned run average. He made 53 pitching appearances at FMU and completed 29 of his 41 starts. He fanned 315 batters in 334 innings while issuing only 53 walks. He still owns the Peach Belt Conference record for most complete games in a career (by a wide margin) and is fourth in career strikeouts.
During his three seasons, he helped the Patriots to an 85-64 combined record.
In his first season at FMU, Jones went 12-6 with one save and a 2.29 ERA. He finished an amazing 11 of 14 starts and ranked second nationally in innings pitched, seventh in victories, and 19th in earned run average. He set a Patriot record for strikeouts in a season (106) – a mark that he would improve upon in 2003.
As a junior, he posted a 9-5 record with a 3.09 ERA and 11 complete games in 14 starts, while helping Francis Marion to a No.18 national ranking and the program’s first NCAA Tournament bid in 10 seasons. In six of his starts, he registered double-figure strikeout totals en route to a season-record 119 strikeouts. He earned team MVP honors, was named to the All-Conference Team, and garnered first-team All-Region recognition.
In 2004, he went 8-3 with one save and a 2.88 ERA with seven complete games in 13 starts. He again was named the FMU most valuable player and picked up All-Conference and All-Region honors. He was also named to the District All-Academic squad.
Following the season, Jones was drafted by the New York Mets in the 31st round of the 2004 Draft, but he chose to concentrate on his professional work career in the nursing field.
Jones earned a B.S. degree in biology (cum laude) with a 3.50 grade point average. He was inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma national college athlete honor society, and was a three-time honoree to both the PBC Presidential Honor Roll and the FMU Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic Honor Roll. He later earned a nursing degree from the cooperative FMU/MUSC program in 2006.
He still resides in his native Dillon with his wife and two children. He is in his 11th year as a registered nurse at McLeod Regional Medical Center.
Bevington and Jones join 41 current members in the FMU Athletic Hall of Fame.
