Craig Downs UNLV With 8 K's

LAS -- Jesse Craig struck out eight Rebels in throwing a complete game Saturday as BYU defeated UNLV, 5-3.

The win improves Craig's record to 3-2 and the Cougars' record to 13-7 overall and 2-1 in the Mountain West Conference. Craig scattered six hits and struck out Rebels in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings. In the fourth and sixth innings he struck out two Rebels when he set UNLV down in order.

The senior's 118 pitches kept scouts around through the ninth inning in his hometown.

"It will go down as one of my best outings," said Craig. "I felt like this was my game and I got stronger as I went along."

Craig received good offensive support, too. Through each of the first seven innings of the game BYU had a runner reach at least second base.

"Craig pitched awesome," said BYU Coach Vance Law. "I'm pleased with the way he came back after a bad outing earlier in the week."

After falling behind 1-0, the Cougars squandered an opportunity in the second inning when Steve Parker led off with a triple, then got out in a rundown on the next batter.

Leon Johnson extended his current hitting streak to seven games with a one-out double in the third and scored on Collin Fanning's single to tie the score at one-all. Fanning advanced to third on a wild pitch, then scored on the double by Apana Nakayama which went down the rightfield line, putting BYU ahead, 2-1.

UNLV tied and took the lead, 3-2, in the fifth off two singles and an error.

Austin Hall helped BYU answer in the sixth with a lead-off double over the third baseman, then scored on J.T. Musso's munch double off the centerfield wall. Musso scored off Fanning's single to center, making the score 4-3 favoring the Cougars. The damage could have been worse as UNLV made a pitching change with men on the corners, but reserve Jason Johnson's hard slam hit on Fanning on the base path to end the inning.

Parker collected his second hit of the day with a single in the ninth, but Nakayama was thrown out at third on the play. Parker scored on Hall's one-out single, to give BYU a two-run margin, 5-3.

The Cougars next play on Tuesday in a rare non-league game at Salt Lake City against Utah, then host a three-game series starting Thursday against TCU.

BYU at UNLV
Mar 17, 2007 at Las Vegas, Nev. (Earl Wilson Stadium)
BYU 5 (13-7,2-1 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Leon lf.........  4  1  1  0   1  2  1  0   0
FANNING, Collin rf/cf....  5  1  3  2   0  0  2  0   0
WALTON, Kent 2b..........  2  0  1  0   0  0  0  0   0
 JOHNSON, Jason 2b.......  3  0  1  0   0  1  3  1   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  3  0  1  1   2  0  0  0   1
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  5  1  2  0   0  2  0  2   3
KO, Kasey 1b.............  4  0  0  0   0  1 12  0   0
HALL, Austin ss..........  3  1  2  1   1  1  1  4   0
MUSSO, J.T. c............  4  1  1  1   0  2  8  0   2
WELLS, Stephen cf........  3  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   1
 CLUFF, Jonathan ph/rf...  1  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
CRAIG, Jesse p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  4   0
Totals................... 37  5 12  5   4  9 27 11   9
UNLV 3 (10-17,1-2 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
BEAMON, Calvin rf........  4  1  1  0   0  1  2  0   0
GAILEN, Blake lf.........  4  0  1  0   0  0  2  0   1
SMITH, Keith 2b..........  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  4   0
NAVARRO JR., Efren 1b....  4  0  0  0   0  3  7  1   1
MILLER, Chad dh..........  4  0  0  0   0  1  0  0   1
SCRUGGS, Xavier 3b.......  4  0  0  0   0  1  4  1   0
KOWALSKI, Ryan cf........  3  1  2  0   1  0  1  1   0
BRENLY, Michael c........  4  1  1  0   0  1 10  0   1
WALKER, Braden ss........  3  0  1  1   0  0  0  1   1
HUTCHISON, Matt p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  2   0
 BACA, Marc p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 GOODMAN, Michael p......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 34  3  6  1   1  8 27 10   5
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
BYU................. 002 002 100 -  5 12  3
UNLV................ 100 020 000 -  3  6  0
-------------------------------------------
E - JOHNSON, J. 2(2); PARKER(4). LOB - BY 9; LV 5. 2B - JOHNSON, L.(3);
NAKAYAMA(6); HALL(5); MUSSO(5); KOWALSKI, R.(4). 3B - PARKER(3). SB -
FANNING(8); WALTON(3); HALL(3); BEAMON, C. 2(10).
BYU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
CRAIG, Jesse........  9.0  6  3  1  1  8 34 35
UNLV                   IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
HUTCHISON, Matt.....  5.2  8  4  4  3  5 25 28
BACA, Marc..........  1.1  4  1  1  1  1  6  7
GOODMAN, Michael....  2.0  0  0  0  0  3  6  6
Win - CRAIG (3-2).  Loss - HUTCHISON, M (0-5).  Save - None.
WP - CRAIG(3); HUTCHISON, M(4).
Umpires - HP: Kevin Daugherty  1B: John Ausmus  3B: Bruce Bayne
Start: 2:00 PM   Time: 2:35   Attendance: 425
BYU starters: 14/lf JOHNSON, L.; 17/rf FANNING; 9/2b WALTON; 24/dh NAKAYAMA;
5/3b PARKER; 22/1b KO; 18/ss HALL; 10/c MUSSO; 1/cf WELLS; 35/p CRAIG;
UNLV starters: 38/rf BEAMON, C.; 22/lf GAILEN, B.; 14/2b SMITH, Keith; 35/1b
NAVARRO JR.,; 44/dh MILLER, Chad; 16/3b SCRUGGS, X.; 12/cf KOWALSKI, R.; 18/c
BRENLY, M.; 10/ss WALKER, B.; 34/p HUTCHISON, M;
BYU 1st - JOHNSON, L. struck out looking. FANNING out at first 1b to 2b
to p. WALTON singled through the left side. WALTON stole second. NAKAYAMA
fouled out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 1st - BEAMON, C. singled up the middle. BEAMON, C. stole second.
GAILEN, B. grounded out to ss; BEAMON, C. advanced to third. SMITH, Keith
grounded out to p. NAVARRO JR., reached on a fielding error by 3b; BEAMON, C.
scored, unearned. MILLER, Chad fouled out to 1b. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1
LOB.
BYU 2nd - PARKER tripled to left field. KO reached on a fielder's
choice; PARKER out at home p to 3b to c. HALL struck out looking. MUSSO struck
out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 2nd - SCRUGGS, X. fouled out to 1b. KOWALSKI, R. grounded out to
ss. BRENLY, M. flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 3rd - WELLS flied out to lf. JOHNSON, L. doubled down the lf line.
FANNING singled to left field, RBI; JOHNSON, L. scored. WALTON grounded out to
2b; FANNING advanced to second. FANNING advanced to third on a wild pitch.
NAKAYAMA doubled down the rf line, RBI; FANNING scored. PARKER grounded out to
2b. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 3rd - JOHNSON, J. to 2b for WALTON. WALKER, B. grounded out to 2b.
BEAMON, C. struck out swinging. GAILEN, B. grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0
hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 4th - KO flied out to cf. HALL walked. MUSSO flied out to rf. WELLS
fouled out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 4th - SMITH, Keith struck out looking. NAVARRO JR., struck out
swinging. MILLER, Chad popped up to 1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
BYU 5th - JOHNSON, L. grounded out to p, bunt. FANNING singled up the
middle. FANNING stole second. JOHNSON, J. flied out to rf; FANNING advanced to
third. NAKAYAMA walked. PARKER struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors,
2 LOB.
UNLV 5th - SCRUGGS, X. struck out swinging. KOWALSKI, R. singled up the
middle. BRENLY, M. singled up the middle; KOWALSKI, R. advanced to third.
WALKER, B. singled to third base, RBI; BRENLY, M. advanced to second; KOWALSKI,
R. scored. BEAMON, C. reached on a fielder's choice; WALKER, B. out at second
ss to 2b; BRENLY, M. advanced to third, scored on a throwing error by 2b,
unearned. BEAMON, C. stole second. GAILEN, B. flied out to lf. 2 runs, 3
hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 6th - KO struck out looking. HALL doubled down the lf line. MUSSO
doubled to left center, RBI; HALL scored. WELLS fouled out to 3b. JOHNSON, L.
walked. BACA, Marc to p for HUTCHISON, M. FANNING singled to center field, RBI;
JOHNSON, L. advanced to second; MUSSO scored. JOHNSON, J. singled to first
base; FANNING out at first 1b unassisted; JOHNSON, L. advanced to third. 2
runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
UNLV 6th - SMITH, Keith flied out to rf. NAVARRO JR., struck out
swinging. MILLER, Chad struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
BYU 7th - NAKAYAMA walked. PARKER singled to left field, advanced to
second on the throw; NAKAYAMA advanced to second, out at third cf to 3b. KO
grounded out to 1b unassisted; PARKER advanced to third. HALL singled through
the left side, RBI; PARKER scored. HALL stole second. MUSSO struck out
swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
UNLV 7th - SCRUGGS, X. grounded out to 3b. KOWALSKI, R. doubled to left
center. KOWALSKI, R. advanced to third on a wild pitch. BRENLY, M. grounded out
to p. WALKER, B. grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
BYU 8th - GOODMAN, M. to p for BACA, Marc. CLUFF pinch hit for WELLS.
CLUFF lined out to 3b. JOHNSON, L. struck out swinging. FANNING grounded out to
ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV 8th - FANNING to cf. CLUFF to rf. BEAMON, C. lined out to ss.
GAILEN, B. singled up the middle. SMITH, Keith reached on a fielder's choice,
advanced to second on a throwing error by 2b; GAILEN, B. out at second ss to
2b. NAVARRO JR., struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.
BYU 9th - JOHNSON, J. struck out swinging. NAKAYAMA grounded out to 2b.
PARKER struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
UNLV 9th - MILLER, Chad popped up to 2b. SCRUGGS, X. grounded out to p.
KOWALSKI, R. walked. BRENLY, M. struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 1 LOB.