NORTHRIDGE, Calif. – California awaits, as the Portland Pilots head down to Los Angeles to take on the CSUN Matadors. The two teams play on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. Fans can find an audio stream and live stats at PortlandPilots.com.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Opponent: CSUN Matadors
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 18
Location: Northridge, Calif.
Ballpark: Robert J. Hiegert Field
Audio: CSUN Sports Network
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Against CSUN: 8-11-1
Last vs. CSUN: POR 14, @CSUN 6 (4/14/2025)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (2026 W-L, ERA)
Wednesday • Feb. 18 • 3:00 PM
POR: RHP Carter Gaston (0-0, 0.00)
CSUN: RHP Zach Johnson (1-0, 9.00)
 
LAST WEEK FOR THE PILOTS
• The Portland Pilots are 1-2 to start the season after taking one of three games against the Purdue Boilermakers down in Sugar Land.
• The Pilots earned a win with a late surge against Purdue on Friday 9-3 before dropping Saturday and Sunday's games by scores of 2-1 and 10-7 respectively.
• On Friday, the Pilots piled in all nine runs across the final three innings, with Jonas Salk, Brady Bean, Trey Swygart and Nolan Miller all recording multiple hits.
• The Pilots walked 11 times on Friday, marking the ninth time since 2000 the Pilots have walked that many times in a game.
• Bean and Miller both impressed at the plate in their first action of the season, batting .417 and .400 respectively across three games
• Bean notched five knocks and two doubles, with both totals leading the Pilots. Miller slugged .700 with a homer, one of two Pilots to hit a home run this past weekend.
• Cole Katayama-Stall was the only other Pilot to homer last weekend, pounding two homers on Sunday for his first multi-home run game as a Pilot. He's batting .231 on the season with a team-high .769 slugging percentage and three extra-base hits.
• On the mound, Trey Newmann and Will Labonte both shined for the Pilots in relief.
• On Friday, Newmann went 3.2 innings, throwing six strikeouts and having no runs count against him to earn the first win for a Pilot pitcher this season.
• Labonte was stellar in 5.1 innings of relief, allowing no runs and just four hits and striking out two batters. He had the longest outing of any Pilot pitcher this weekend.
• Labonte is the only Pilot freshman pitcher of the 2000s to go more than five innings without allowing a run in his collegiate debut.
 
PEEK INTO THE PORT
• As a team, the Pilots lead the West Coast Conference in walks allowed per nine innings (2.45) and rank second on strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.00), hit by pitch (6), walks (18) and home runs (3).
• Nationally, they are 27th in walks allowed per nine and 40th in double plays per game (1.0).
• Labonte and Newmann are two of just 13 WCC pitchers to not allow an earned run this season.
• Labonte is one of four WCC pitchers to throw more than five innings this past weekend and one of just two freshmen.
• Labonte, along with Kaden Segel are two of only four WCC pitchers to not walk any batters in over four innings of work.
• Newmann is tied for sixth currently in the WCC in strikeouts (6) and ranks fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (14.73).
• Katayama-Stall is one of just two WCC players to have multiple home runs after opening weekend and ranks 23rd nationally in the category.
• Cody Nitowitz got on base plenty last weekend and now ranks second in walks per game (1.33), third in total walks (4) and fourth in on-base percentage (.600). Trey Swygart is tied with Nitowitz in total walks as well.
• Bean and Miller are two of 14 WCC batters hitting over .400 through the first weekend.
• The Portland Pilots were picked fourth in the annual WCC Preseason Poll, with Salk making the All-WCC Preseason Team for the first time in his career.
• In the D1 Baseball Season Preview for the WCC, Portland was picked to finish fourth in the conference as well.
 
LAST SEASON FOR THE BLUFF BOYS
• The Portland Pilots finished last season 22-30 overall and 13-11 in WCC play to take fifth in the WCC.
• Portland earned 20-plus wins for the fifth season in a row and for the seventh time in the last eight season. It's the first time they've earned at least 20 wins five seasons in a row since a stretch between 2008-12.
• Last year, the Pilots made qualified for the WCC Tournament for the fourth year in a row after previously having never made the tournament. They fell to the LMU Lions in their lone game in the tournament.
• Six players earned All-WCC honors last season, with four of those six player returning this season.
• The Pilots saw six earn All-WCC honors, headlined by Jonas Salk's All-WCC First Team selection. Tyler Howard earned second team honors, Brady Bean, Cody Nitowitz and Ryan Rembisz earned honorable mention and Nitowitz and Trey Swygart made the freshman team.
• Salk makes it seven straight seasons the Pilots have had someone make the All-WCC First Team. This was his first All-WCC selection.
• Jonas Salk's 13 home runs were the most by a Pilot since 2008. Salk is the first Pilot since Matt Scales 1992 to have at least three multi-home run games in a season.
• Salk's .807 slugging percentage ranked first against conference opponents. He was also third in home runs (ninth) and OPS (1.287), fourth in doubles (nine) and runs scored (26) and eighth in batting average (.373).
•Brady Bean was the only Pilot to have played every game. He ranked ninth in the WCC in hits (64) and tied for third in at bats (206).
• Bean's 48 RBI's ranks seventh in the WCC. They are tied for the 11th most in program history, and he's just the fifth Pilot in the 2000s to reach that total.
• Tyler Howard was second in the WCC in batting average (.379) and on-base percentage (.481) and ranked sixth in total walks (29). Howard put together a 32-game on-base streak that was the longest by a Pilot since 1993.
• Cody Nitowitz was tied for eighth in the WCC in batting average against conference opponents at .373, sixth in on-base percentage (.490) and tied for first in walks (18).
• Trey Swygart was a two-way player for the Pilots last season, displaying power at the plate and prowess on the mound.
• Swygart, a 2025 Perfect Game Freshman All-American, posted a slash line of .342/.500/.644 in 73 at bats last year, along with six home runs and four doubles. He was 0-3 on the mound last season with a 6.97 ERA and two saves, one of just two Pilots with multiple.
• As a team, the Pilots led the conference in walks (257), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.05), WHIP (1.52), shutouts (3) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.75). Nationally, they were 38th in double plays per game (0.83) and 46th in walks allowed per nine innings.
 
THE COACHING STAFF
• 2026 marks the 11th year at the helm for head coach Geoff Loomis.
• With 234 career wins as Portland's skipper, Loomis already ranks fourth all-time for total wins at Portland. He is also just the fourth Pilot coach to reach 200 wins.
• Loomis is a Portland baseball alum and UP Athletics Hall of Fame member who still holds the UP program career record for batting average (.376).
• Trey Watt was promoted to associate head coach following the 2024 season and takes over as pitching coach.
• Watt was a pitcher under Loomis at Pacific Lutheran, becoming the second Lute to ever sign a free agent contract.
• Jarvis Gomes returns as the Director for Player Development for his fifth year and Ben Patacsil joining as an assistant coach after spending last season as a graduate assistant.
• Holcroft is Portland's all-time leader in games played (227), hits (319), at bats (941), runs scored (193), doubles (57), walks (112) and total bases (448). He's also third all-time in RBI's (161), tied for fifth in stolen bases (53), sixth in batting average (.339), tied for sixth in triples (eight), tied for eighth in home runs (eight).
• Holcroft earned All-WCC First Team honors last season for the third year in a row and was also named the 2024 WCC Tournament MVP.
• Patacsil thrice earned All-WCC honors, making the first team in his final season in 2024. He led the WCC in batting average (.387) and on-base percentage (.464) and hit .524 against WCC opponents specifically, over 100 points higher than the next closest player.
 
ABOUT THE MATADORS
• The CSUN Matadors sit at 3-0 overall after sweeping their opening series against the Seattle U Redhawks.
• The Matadors hit seven home runs over the weekend, ranking 12th in the nation and first in the Big West.
• Last season the Matadors went 15-34 overall and 10-20 against Big West opponents. The Pilots and Matadors played one game last season, with the Pilots winning 14-6.
• The Matadors were picked to finish ninth in the 2026 Big West Preseason Coach's Poll.
• Eddie Cornejo is in his fourth season as head coach of the Matadors and seventh overall in the program. He is 82-75 in four seasons at CSUN.

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