PROVO -- Home runs by Kent Walton and Leon Johnson weren't enough as BYU couldn't hold on to a 4-0 lead and lost 6-5 to TCU on Thursday night.

Heading into the top of the ninth the score was tied 5-5. Jacob Perez came in to pitch for BYU and gave up a sacrifice fly by right fielder Austin Adams that gave TCU the 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Walton went two-for-four in the game with a home run and three RBI. Pitcher Jesse Craig pitched six-plus strong innings, striking out nine and picking up a no decision. TCU's Jake Arrieta went six innings, striking out 10, giving up four runs, also for a no decision.

"We played a game we should have won tonight," said BYU coach Vance Law. "We battled hard at the plate."

In the second week of the conference season, BYU (13-9, 2-2) and TCU (17-6, 4-0) faced off in a key series for conference supremacy.

Craig started off strong striking out the first batter he faced, and getting through the first with only allowing one runner on, who he hit by a pitch.

In the bottom of the inning, BYU got something going with some impressive base running by Colin Fanning who drew a walk and then advanced to second on a wild throw, and then proceeded to steal third. Walton was up next and drew another walk for BYU to give them a man at first and third, but the Cougars weren't able to convert keeping the score knotted at 0-0.

BYU got out of a jam in the top of the third with the score 0-0 when TCU had a man on first and third, and BYU was able to get the man on first in a run down and picked him off to end the inning.

In the bottom of the third the Cougars got their first hit and it was a big one as Johnson hit a home run to center to give BYU the 1-0 lead.

Craig continued to show great control and poise on the mound striking out two in the top of the fourth and only giving up one single, only his second hit allowed in the game.

In the bottom of the fifth the Cougars were able to get some more run support for Craig, with a towering home run by Walton that also brought in Nakayama to score. Walton's home run just stayed fair to make the Cougars' lead 4-0.

TCU was finally able to break-up the shutout in the top of the sixth when a triple hit by right fielder Adams brought around third baseman Steven Trout to score.

Pitcher Matthew Jensen took over for Craig in the top of the seventh, and came in to face TCU with the bases loaded. Jensen got off to a rough start walking the first two batters he faced to bring in two runs for the Horned Frogs. The next batter was Trout who hit a single to left that brought in another run to score to tie the game at 4-4. Another runner was coming around to score and give TCU the lead, but Johnson made an amazing throw to home to get the runner out.

BYU responded to TCU's big inning with a big Walton single that brought Fanning around to score and put BYU back on top 5-4.

"We didn't get the job done out of the bullpen," said Law. "I thought four runs was going to be enough."

Johnson extended his hit streak to a team-leading nine games with his home run in the third. The attendance was a season-high of 1,547 at Miller Field. After the game the fans were treated to a fireworks display.

The Cougars and Horned Frogs hook up again on Friday at 6 p.m. Sophomore Jordan Muir, 4-1, will be on the mound for BYU who will be looking to end a two-game skid.

TCU at Brigham Young Univ.
Mar 22, 2007 at Provo, Utah (Larry H.Miller Field)
TCU 6 (17-6,4-0 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
KERVIN, Bryan ss.........  3  1  0  0   2  2  1  1   2
TROUT, Steven 3b.........  4  2  3  1   1  0  0  0   0
CONLON, Keith cf.........  3  0  0  1   1  1  2  0   0
ADAMS, Austin rf.........  4  0  2  3   0  1  4  0   1
WALKER, Andrew c.........  5  0  1  0   0  1 10  2   2
VERN, Matt 1b............  4  1  1  0   0  2  7  1   2
McGUIRK, Matt dh.........  4  1  1  0   0  1  0  0   0
ARNOLD, Clint lf.........  4  1  3  1   0  0  0  0   0
CARRUTHERS, Ben 2b.......  3  0  0  0   0  2  2  4   0
ARRIETA, Jake p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 CRAGIN, Taylor p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 VerHAGEN, Derek p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 DUNBAR, Cody p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
 DEMEL, Sam p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
Totals................... 34  6 11  6   4 10 27  9   8
Brigham Young Univ. 5 (13-9,2-2 MWC)
Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Leon lf.........  5  1  1  1   0  0  2  1   0
FANNING, Collin rf.......  4  1  1  0   1  2  1  0   0
NAKAYAMA, Apana dh.......  3  1  1  0   2  2  0  0   0
WALTON, Kent 2b..........  4  2  2  3   1  0  2  0   1
PARKER, Steve 3b.........  3  0  0  0   1  2  0  4   2
KO, Kasey 1b.............  3  0  0  0   1  0  6  0   2
WELLS, Stephen cf........  3  0  1  1   1  0  2  0   0
MUSSO, J.T. c............  3  0  0  0   1  2 11  2   0
HALL, Austin ss..........  4  0  0  0   0  2  2  1   3
CRAIG, Jesse p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0
 JENSEN, Matt p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  1  0   0
 PEREZ, Jacob p..........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0
Totals................... 32  5  6  5   8 10 27  9   8
Score by Innings                    R  H  E
-------------------------------------------
TCU................. 000 001 311 -  6 11  1
Brigham Young Univ.. 001 120 100 -  5  6  1
-------------------------------------------
E - ARRIETA(3); HALL(5). LOB - Horned Frogs 8; BYU Cougars 8. 2B -
NAKAYAMA(7); WALTON(11); WELLS(2). 3B - ADAMS(2); VERN(2). HR - JOHNSON,
L.(3); WALTON(2). HBP - CONLON; CARRUTHERS. SF - ADAMS(3). SB - KERVIN(3);
CONLON(9); FANNING(9); WALTON(4). CS - WELLS(3).
TCU                    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
ARRIETA, Jake.......  6.0  5  4  4  5 10 22 27
CRAGIN, Taylor......  0.1  1  1  1  0  0  2  2
VerHAGEN, Derek.....  0.0  0  0  0  1  0  0  1
DUNBAR, Cody........  1.2  0  0  0  1  0  5  6
DEMEL, Sam..........  1.0  0  0  0  1  0  3  4
Brigham Young Univ.    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
CRAIG, Jesse........  6.1  7  4  4  2  9 24 28
JENSEN, Matt........  1.2  3  1  1  2  1  7  9
PEREZ, Jacob........  1.0  1  1  0  0  0  3  4
Win - DUNBAR (1-0).  Loss - PEREZ (0-1).  Save - DEMEL (4).
WP - VerHAGEN(2); JENSEN(1). HBP - by CRAIG (CONLON); by CRAIG (CARRUTHERS). BK
- VerHAGEN(1).
Umpires - HP: Randy Upton  1B: Bradley Hungerford  3B: Bruce Bayne
Start: 6:08 pm   Time: 3:17   Attendance: 1547
VerHAGEN faced 1 batter in the 7th.
TCU starters: 1/ss KERVIN; 16/3b TROUT; 27/cf CONLON; 44/rf ADAMS; 6/c WALKER; 21/1b
VERN; 32/dh McGUIRK; 5/lf ARNOLD; 20/2b CARRUTHERS; 34/p ARRIETA;
Brigham Young Univ. starters: 14/lf JOHNSON, L.; 17/rf FANNING; 24/dh NAKAYAMA; 9/2b
WALTON; 5/3b PARKER; 22/1b KO; 1/cf WELLS; 10/c MUSSO; 18/ss HALL; 35/p CRAIG;
TCU 1st - KERVIN struck out looking. TROUT grounded out to 3b. CONLON hit by
pitch. CONLON stole second. ADAMS grounded out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 1st - JOHNSON, L. flied out to rf. FANNING walked.
FANNING advanced to second on an error by p. FANNING stole third. NAKAYAMA struck
out looking. WALTON walked. PARKER struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 2
LOB.
TCU 2nd - WALKER struck out looking. VERN struck out looking. McGUIRK popped
up to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 2nd - KO flied out to cf. WELLS walked. WELLS out at
second c to ss, caught stealing. MUSSO struck out looking. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
TCU 3rd - ARNOLD singled up the middle. CARRUTHERS reached on a fielder's
choice; ARNOLD out at second p to ss. CARRUTHERS out at first c to 1b, picked off.
KERVIN walked. KERVIN stole second. TROUT singled to second base; KERVIN advanced to
third. TROUT out at second c to 2b, picked off. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1
LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 3rd - HALL struck out swinging. JOHNSON, L. homered to
center field, RBI. FANNING struck out swinging. NAKAYAMA struck out swinging. 1
run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU 4th - CONLON grounded out to 3b. ADAMS struck out looking. WALKER singled
to right field. VERN struck out swinging. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 4th - WALTON doubled to left center. PARKER struck out
looking. KO walked. WELLS doubled to left center, RBI; KO advanced to third; WALTON
scored. MUSSO struck out swinging. HALL struck out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
TCU 5th - McGUIRK struck out looking. ARNOLD grounded out to ss. CARRUTHERS
hit by pitch. KERVIN struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 5th - JOHNSON, L. grounded out to c, bunt. FANNING struck
out looking. NAKAYAMA doubled down the rf line. WALTON homered to left field, 2 RBI;
NAKAYAMA scored. PARKER out at first 1b to p. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
TCU 6th - TROUT singled to shortstop. CONLON struck out swinging. ADAMS
tripled to right field, RBI; TROUT scored. WALKER lined out to 2b. VERN flied out to
cf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 6th - KO grounded out to ss. WELLS flied out to rf. MUSSO
walked. HALL flied out to rf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
TCU 7th - McGUIRK singled to right field. ARNOLD singled to left center;
McGUIRK advanced to second. CARRUTHERS struck out swinging. KERVIN walked; ARNOLD
advanced to second; McGUIRK advanced to third. JENSEN to p for CRAIG. TROUT walked,
RBI; KERVIN advanced to second; ARNOLD advanced to third; McGUIRK scored. CONLON
walked, RBI; TROUT advanced to second; KERVIN advanced to third; ARNOLD scored.
ADAMS singled to left field, RBI; CONLON advanced to second; TROUT advanced to
third, out at home lf to c; KERVIN scored. WALKER grounded out to 3b. 3 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 7th - CRAGIN to p for ARRIETA. JOHNSON, L. flied out to
rf. FANNING singled to center field. VerHAGEN to p for CRAGIN. FANNING advanced to
second on a balk. FANNING advanced to third on a wild pitch. NAKAYAMA intentionally
walked. DUNBAR to p for VerHAGEN. WALTON reached on a fielder's choice, RBI;
NAKAYAMA out at second 2b unassisted; FANNING scored. WALTON stole second. PARKER
walked. KO grounded out to 2b. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
TCU 8th - VERN tripled to right field. McGUIRK popped up to lf. ARNOLD
singled to center field, RBI; VERN scored. ARNOLD advanced to second on a wild
pitch. CARRUTHERS struck out looking. KERVIN grounded out to p unassisted. 1 run,
2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 8th - WELLS flied out to cf. MUSSO popped up to 2b. HALL
grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
TCU 9th - PEREZ to p for JENSEN. TROUT singled to shortstop, advanced to
second on an error by ss. CONLON flied out to rf; TROUT advanced to third. ADAMS
flied out to cf, SF, RBI; TROUT scored, unearned. WALKER flied out to lf. 1 run,
1 hit, 1 error, 0 LOB.
Brigham Young Univ. 9th - DEMEL to p for DUNBAR. JOHNSON, L. grounded out to
p, bunt. FANNING grounded out to 2b. NAKAYAMA walked. WALTON grounded out to 2b.
0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

A rare non-league game with Utah, hosting defending league champion TCU and a post-game fireworks show are all on this week's BYU's baseball schedule.

First up, the Cougars will take their 13-7 record to Franklin Covey Field on Tuesday against Utah, 6-14, in a non-Mountain West Conference game at 6 p.m.

The Cougars are expected to start freshman lefty Blaine Howell, 1-0, 5.14.

Next, BYU takes its 2-1 MWC record against TCU on Thursday as the Horned Frogs bring a 15-6 overall record and a 3-0 league mark to Larry H. Miller Field. That game will be televised live on BYUTV and via tape delay on The Mtn., Friday, March 23 at 8:00 p.m. MT.

Following Thursday's BYU-TCU game will be a fireworks show. The Cougars and TCU are scheduled to play three times this week in Provo.

For more information on BYU's baseball team for this week, click on the PDF link at the top of this page.