BYU's Craig stifles Frogs

FORT WORTH, Texas — Jesse Craig pitched a complete-game shutout as BYU snapped No. 27 TCU's 19-game home-winning streak with a 5-0 win on Thursday night.

Apana Nakayama finally put BYU on the scoreboard in the eighth, hitting a 2-2 pitch over the right-field wall to give BYU a 1-0 edge. In the ninth, the Cougars caught fire with great hitting and base running to add four more runs to their lead and give Craig all the run support he needed.

BYU (22-14, 7-3) came into the game in second place in the MWC, trailing first-place TCU (28-10, 10-2) and just ahead of third-place San Diego State.

The matchup featured both teams' ace going at it, with Craig facing off against Jake Arrieta. The two battled it out, pitching shutout baseball until the eighth inning when Nakayama hit his home run, sending Arrieta to the dugout.

"Jesse (Craig) gave us a gem. He was dealing," said BYU coach Vance Law. "Our aggressiveness paid off, especially in the ninth inning."

The Cougars got insurance runs in that ninth frame when Danny Vargas hit a one-out double, stole third and scored off Collin Fanning's two-out single up the middle. Pinch-hitter Stephen Wells' double scored Fanning. Then Wells surprisingly scored when Kent Walton legged out a single to second base, then stole second and scored the fourth run of that inning off Steve Parker's single.

BYU and TCU will play two more games in Fort Worth, today and Saturday, with start time for both games at 5:30 p.m.