Craig Tosses First Complete Game

SEATTLE -- Jesse Craig went the distance and Adrian Molina hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning in BYU's 4-2 win over Washington Friday.

"He threw 135 pitches. We don't like to have guys go that deep, but he said he felt strong," said BYU Coach Vance Law on Craig's lengthy outing. "He still had some zip on his pitches late in the game and we felt that he really had their hitters' number and had a pretty good idea how to pitch to these guys."

Molina's homer to left broke a 2-2 deadlock dating back to the fourth inning when Kent Walton also hit a home run. Molina's long ball was his third of the year while Walton's was his second. BYU has hit three home runs in the series compared to Washington's one. The Huskies are ranked third in the nation in home runs.

The Cougar centerfielder was perfect at the plate as he hit 4-for-4 while driving in two runs and scoring one. He not only had the game-winning home run, he also drove home a clutch insurance run in the top of the ninth.

Law said that while Molina has struggled against breaking ball pitchers this year, Friday night was different for the centerfielder.

"It's really important for us to be able to get those clutch hits, said Coach Law. The win improves the Cougars' record to 15-19 while Washington falls to 23-14.

Despite rough innings in the second and fourth, Craig (3-5, 3.43) was sharp against a Husky lineup that scored 10 runs against the Cougars on Thursday, giving BYU's bullpen the night off.

Working the black of the plate all night, Craig becomes the first BYU pitcher to pitch a compete game this season. In nine innings of work he allowed two runs on nine hits while striking out seven and walking three.

BYU scored first in the third inning against Husky starter Tyler Cheney after Seth Johnson singled home Stetson Banks from third. Banks had reached on a bunt single before stealing second and moving to third on a throwing error.

The Cougars increased their lead in the fourth when Walton led off the inning with a home run to left center.

The Huskies looked poised to put a run on the board in the bottom of the fourth when they had runners on the corners with two outs. They got one on a throwing error by Craig and added a second to tie the score at two runs apiece on an RBI single up the middle by Ryan Anderson.

"Boy, he really had a gutsy performance," said Coach Law on Craig's pitching. "I'm really proud of how he competed. I was really proud of how he battled back and proud of our whole team in how we scored two more runs and won the game."

In the bottom of the seventh Washington made things interesting for BYU when it loaded the bases against Craig with two outs. Husky Matt Lane bounced a grounder to Banks who bobbled the ball before making a quick throw to a stretching Hiestand at first to beat Lane by a step.

After a lead-off single in the bottom of the eighth the Huskies tried for a sacrifice bunt but were unable to convert. Casey Nelson then beat the runner attempting a steal at second with a throw for the first out before Craig struck out the hitter for two outs. Craig allowed another single to Anderson but the turn at first by the Husky was too wide and Hiestand was able to tag him out after collecting a long throw from Seth Johnson in left.

BYU didn't wait around for Washington to catch up in the bottom of the ninth. Walton led off the inning with a single before being bunted to third on a rare sacrifice bunt by Cougar slugger Ben Saylor.

A potential run-scoring grounder by Hiestand was grabbed in the hole on the right side on a diving play by the Washington second baseman for the second out, but the speedy Walton made it to third on the ground out. Saylor's bunt paid off for BYU when Molina collected his fourth hit of the night on an RBI single up the middle to put BYU up 4-2 going into the bottom of the ninth.

Craig closed his own door in the bottom of the ninth when he retired the Huskies in order, including his seventh strikeout.

The win gave the Cougars some confidence after being dominated by arguably the best pitcher in the nation on Thursday.

"I think in my prime I wouldn't have wanted to hit against that guy," said Coach Law on Husky hurler Tim Lincecum. "He'd shake the confidence of a lot of Major League hitters."

Law said that in his seven years of coaching in college, "no one has even approached what I saw last night."

Speaking of his young team Law said, "I told them last night, he's a major league pitcher in college right now. We need to forget about last night. We're going to face a college pitcher tonight and we have a chance against him."

The two teams meet for the rubber-match of this week's series on Saturday at noon PDT. BYU will be back in Provo on Tuesday for a home game against Utah Valley State.

Brigham Young at Washington
Apr 14, 2006 at Seattle, Wash. (Husky Ballpark)
Brigham Young 4 (15-19)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Seth lf.........  4  0  1  1   0  0  2  1   0
VILLEZCAS, Marcos ss.....  4  0  0  0   0  0  3  4   0
WALTON, Kent dh..........  4  2  2  1   0  1  0  0   0
SAYLOR, Ben rf...........  3  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   0
HIESTAND, Jeff 1b........  4  0  0  0   0  0 11  0   0
MOLINA, Adrian cf........  4  1  4  2   0  0  2  0   0
JOHNSON, Chris 3b........  4  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   3
NELSON, Casey c..........  3  0  0  0   0  0  7  1   0
BANKS, Stetson 2b........  3  1  1  0   0  1  1  7   0
CRAIG, Jesse p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
Totals................... 33  4  8  4   0  3 27 16   3
Washington 2 (23-14)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Rife, Jake dh............  5  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
Hague, Matt rf/1b........  3  0  2  0   1  0  5  0   0
Clem, Zach lf............  3  0  0  0   1  0  2  0   0
Lane, Matt c.............  4  0  1  0   0  1  4  0   4
Rindal, Curt 1b..........  4  0  1  0   0  2  7  1   0
 Burnham, Nick pr/rf.....  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Cox, Danny ss............  3  1  0  0   1  1  1  5   0
Anderson, Ryan 2b........  4  1  3  0   0  1  4  3   0
Stevens, Matt 3b.........  3  0  1  1   0  1  2  0   0
 Petersen, Trevor ph.....  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Kaluza, Brett cf.........  4  0  0  0   0  1  2  0   4
Cheney, Tyler p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Mooney, Bryce p.........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 Hagadone, Nick p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 Cribby, Elliott p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  2  9  1   3  7 27 11   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 001 100 101 -  4  8  1
Washington.......... 000 200 000 -  2  9  2
-------------------------------------------
E - CRAIG(3); Lane(5); Kaluza(1). DP - BYU 1. LOB - BYU 3; Washington 8. HR
- WALTON(2); MOLINA(3). SH - SAYLOR(1). SB - BANKS(8); Anderson(5);
Stevens(3). CS - JOHNSON, S.(2); Burnham(1).
Brigham Young          IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
CRAIG, Jesse........  9.0  9  2  2  3  7 34 37
Washington             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Cheney, Tyler.......  7.0  6  3  2  0  2 26 26
Mooney, Bryce.......  1.0  1  1  1  0  1  4  4
Hagadone, Nick......  0.2  0  0  0  0  0  1  2
Cribby, Elliott.....  0.1  1  0  0  0  0  2  2
Win - CRAIG (3-5).  Loss - Cheney (1-4).  Save - None.
Umpires - HP:  Chris Thomas  1B:  Steve Hilgendorf  3B:  Tim Stevens
Start: 6:29 pm   Time: 2:15   Attendance: 336
Game notes:
ID-385109
Mooney faced 1 batter in the 9th.
Brigham Young at Washington - Play-by-Play
Apr 14, 2006 at Seattle, Wash. (Husky Ballpark)
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young....... 001 100 101 -  4  8  1
Washington.......... 000 200 000 -  2  9  2
-------------------------------------------
Brigham Young starters: 26/lf JOHNSON, S.; 10/ss VILLEZCAS; 9/dh WALTON; 25/rf
SAYLOR; 32/1b HIESTAND; 1/cf MOLINA; 5/3b JOHNSON, C.; 8/c NELSON; 3/2b BANKS;
35/p CRAIG;
Washington starters: 41/dh Rife; 1/rf Hague; 10/lf Clem; 24/c Lane; 21/1b
Rindal; 28/ss Cox; 12/2b Anderson; 13/3b Stevens; 7/cf Kaluza; 22/p Cheney;
Brigham Young 1st - JOHNSON, S. popped up to 2b. VILLEZCAS fouled out to
c. WALTON lined out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Washington 1st - Rife grounded out to 2b. Hague grounded out to 2b. Clem
grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 2nd - SAYLOR popped up to 3b. HIESTAND flied out to lf.
MOLINA singled up the middle, advanced to second on a throwing error by cf.
JOHNSON, C. flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Washington 2nd - Lane singled up the middle. Rindal struck out looking.
Cox reached on a fielder's choice; Lane out at second p to ss. Anderson singled
to third base, bunt; Cox advanced to second. Stevens reached on a fielder's
choice; Anderson advanced to second; Cox advanced to third. Kaluza reached on a
fielder's choice; Stevens out at second p to ss. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3
LOB.
Brigham Young 3rd - NELSON flied out to rf. BANKS singled to third base,
bunt. BANKS stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error by c. JOHNSON,
S. singled to shortstop, RBI; BANKS scored, unearned. VILLEZCAS flied out to
cf. JOHNSON, S. out at second p to 1b to ss, caught stealing. 1 run, 2 hits,
1 error, 0 LOB.
Washington 3rd - Rife grounded out to 2b. Hague singled to right center.
Clem grounded into double play ss to 2b to 1b; Hague out on the play. 0
runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 4th - WALTON homered to left center, RBI. SAYLOR struck
out swinging. HIESTAND grounded out to 2b. MOLINA singled through the right
side. JOHNSON, C. reached on a fielder's choice; MOLINA out at second ss to 2b.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Washington 4th - Lane struck out swinging. Rindal struck out swinging.
Cox walked. Anderson singled through the right side; Cox advanced to third.
Anderson stole second; Cox scored on a throwing error by p. Stevens singled up
the middle, RBI; Anderson scored. Stevens stole second. Kaluza grounded out to
2b. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 5th - NELSON popped up to 2b. BANKS flied out to rf.
JOHNSON, S. grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Washington 5th - Rife flied out to cf. Hague walked. Clem flied out to
lf. Lane flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young 6th - VILLEZCAS popped up to 3b. WALTON struck out
swinging. SAYLOR grounded out to 1b unassisted. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Washington 6th - Rindal popped up to p. Cox grounded out to 3b. Anderson
struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 7th - HIESTAND grounded out to 1b unassisted. MOLINA
homered to left field, RBI. JOHNSON, C. grounded out to ss. NELSON flied out to
lf. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Washington 7th - Stevens struck out looking. Kaluza flied out to cf.
Rife singled to right field. Hague singled up the middle; Rife advanced to
second. Clem walked; Hague advanced to second; Rife advanced to third. Lane
grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Brigham Young 8th - Mooney to p for Cheney. BANKS struck out swinging.
JOHNSON, S. grounded out to 2b. VILLEZCAS grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Washington 8th - Rindal singled to right field. Burnham pinch ran for
Rindal. Burnham out at second c to ss, caught stealing. Cox struck out
swinging. Anderson singled to left field, out at first lf to ss to 1b. 0
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young 9th - Hague to 1b. Burnham to rf. WALTON singled to
shortstop. Hagadone to p for Mooney. SAYLOR grounded out to p, SAC; WALTON
advanced to second. HIESTAND grounded out to 2b; WALTON advanced to third.
Cribby to p for Hagadone. MOLINA singled up the middle, RBI; WALTON scored.
JOHNSON, C. reached on a fielder's choice; MOLINA out at second ss to 2b. 1
run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Washington 9th - Petersen pinch hit for Stevens. Petersen grounded out
to 2b. Kaluza struck out swinging. Rife grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits,
0 errors, 0 LOB.