Basic product hoping to feel a draft

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Before packing his bags and heading off to an unknown destination to play pro baseball, Brigham Young pitcher Jesse Craig had one loose end to tie up.

He did not want to leave home without his fiancee, Stephanie. So he married her.

"That was the plan," he said. "We were going to be away from each other for a long time without being married, and we wanted to try to have as much time together as possible."

That was last May, and Craig said "things are going well" with married life. It was the other half of his plan that fell apart.

Craig, a 2001 graduate of Basic High School, was surprised not to get selected in the major league draft last June. As a result, he returned for his senior year.

Not only did he get more quality time with his wife, Craig, 24, has made the most of his extended stay with the Cougars.

The 6-foot-3-inch right-hander returned to Las Vegas and started BYU’s most important game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Friday at Wilson Stadium. But that did not go as he planned, either.

Craig pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed six runs, four earned, in second-seeded BYU’s 8-7 loss to top-seeded Texas Christian.

When Craig left the game, the Cougars led, 7-6. But Andrew Walker’s two-run single in the eighth inning pushed the Horned Frogs (45-12) into the championship game at 3 p.m. today.

"I did my best to battle as well as I could," Craig said. "I still think we have a decent shot at winning the tournament."

BYU (37-19) defeated UNLV 10-9 in the losers’ bracket late Friday and must beat TCU twice today to continue its season.

Craig not only is the Cougars’ ace, he was voted the conference Pitcher of the Year after going 10-2 with a 2.80 ERA.

"He didn’t have his best stuff. But he’s such a competitor, and he pitched very hard," BYU coach Vance Law said after the loss to the Horned Frogs.

After high school, the Atlanta Braves drafted Craig in the 36th round. He instead opted to serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

His decision to attend BYU came after he spent two years at the Community College of Southern Nevada.

"I thought it was a travesty that he didn’t get drafted last year," Law said. "Obviously, for us it was good. But from what I hear, there’s a lot of people who like what he’s done this year."

Craig married Stephanie seven months after they met. She graduated from Utah Valley State College in the nursing program. He hopes to get drafted in early June.

"I don’t have any expectations. I’ve had those in the past, and they have never worked out," he said. "I was pretty disappointed. You just kind of live and learn."