"A couple of those homers were really important to us in that ballgame," said Kinneberg. "The last one was a great ending to a good day."

It was followed by plenty of congratulatory calls, texts and Facebook messages.

"All my friends called me and my family was just ecstatic," he said.

Jones' father, Marty, wasn't at the game but got regular updates on the telephone as things developed.

Lorri Blanc, the mother of teammate Cooper Blanc, was in attendance and dutifully collected all four of Jones' home run balls. She's going to put something together for her son's friend.

"That will be huge for me," said Jones. "... I'll cherish it forever."

Hitting four home runs will do that to a guy. It's an accomplishment that is hard to define. Is it comparable to a no-hitter? A perfect game? Or hitting for the cycle?

"There are three or four things that come to mind that you kind of compare it to," said Kinneberg.

Jones, however, simply chalks it up to being part of the game.

"That's baseball," he said while noting that some hard-hit balls are caught and some softly hit jams turn into base hits. "That's kind of how it goes with home runs. You get a hold of one, you get a hold of one."

Numbers vary. A year ago, Jones led the Utes with 51 RBIs. The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder had a .326 batting average.

Entering this weekend's series at TCU — Utah's final road trip of the season — Jones' output is down. He has 32 RBIs and is batting .269.

Kinneberg, however, is proud of how Jones has handled the adversity.

"The one thing Austin has always done is continue to work hard and be a team guy," he said. "He tries to be as good of a leader as he can be."

Homers and all.

E-mail: dirk@desnews.com