It was a tough way to open the 2017 Central Valley Conference schedule for Porterville College. The Pirates managed just one hit and lost 6-0 to visiting Merced College in both teams' conference opener on Tuesday.

Merced starting pitcher Nate McGhee was nearly untouchable. Dylan Reed led off the bottom of the second inning with a single for the Pirates' lone hit of the ball game. McGhee struck out eight and walked just one in the complete-game victory.

Jordan Grader took the loss for PC to fall to 1-5. He allowed six runs and nine hits over 6 1/3 innings. Connor Carson pitched well in relief, allowing just one hit over the final 2 2/3 innings.

Porterville, now 3-15 overall and 0-1 in CVC play, will look to snap its four-game losing streak on Thursday (Mar. 9) at 2 p.m. when the Pirates travel to Merced for Game 2 of the three-game conference series. The finale returns to Porterville on Saturday (Mar. 11) at 1 p.m.