Rough Start, Smooth End for McMullen as Glendale Pitcher Frustrates Pierce, 5-2

Glendale College right-hander Mike McMullen allowed two first-inning runs and struggled with his control most of the game, but he held on to beat visiting Pierce, 5-2, in a Western State Conference baseball opener Tuesday at Stengel Field.

He did it by working himself out of problems with clutch pitching and with long-ball support from his teammates.

Glendale (5-2, 1-0 in conference play) slugged three home runs, two by designated hitter Lance Evans and one by center fielder John Horan.

Pierce (2-4, 0-1), the defending conference champion, scored its runs with two out in the first.

McMullen, a 6-foot-6 sophomore from Kennedy High, walked Carl Grissom and Josh Smaler to open the game. Two outs later Pierce third baseman Kevin Milligan smashed a hard grounder to third that hit the bag and landed in left field, scoring both runners.

“I just had some problems with my mechanics,” McMullen said. “And I had to control my emotions.”

McMullen (2-1) settled down until the seventh, when he walked two batters and hit another to load the bases with two out. Reliever Steve Hernandez struck out pinch-hitter Louis Tapia to end the Brahma threat.

Glendale wasted little time in getting the game back under control.

With one out in the second, Jose Robles doubled and Evans followed with a homer to left-center field off left-hander Adam West (0-2) to tie the score, 2-2.

The Vaqueros scored three more times in the fourth, highlighted by Evans’ second homer, which cleared the fence a few feet from his first one.

The home run by Horan, who had struck out in his first three at-bats, closed out the scoring.

“They (the Vaqueros) got a couple of timely hits and made the plays when they had to,” Pierce Coach Bob Lofrano said.

McMullen gave up only three hits but walked eight. West allowed seven hits, walked three and struck out six in 7 2/3 innings.