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Grady Keljo on the mound for the Pilots.

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Pilots Have Quick Turnaround With Washington State Contest on Monday

PULLMAN, Wash. – It's a quick turnaround for Portland Pilots Baseball, who face off against the Washington State Cougars on Monday, Apr. 13 at noon. The two teams will play at Bailey-Brayton Field on the Mountain West Network. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video options.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Opponent: Washington State Cougars (17-14, 6-3 WCC)
Dates: Monday, Apr. 13
Location: Pullman, Wash.
Ballpark: Bailey-Brayton Field
Video: Mountain West Network
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Against WSU: 30-75
Last vs. WSU: POR 5, @WSU 3 ('24)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (2026 W-L, ERA)
Monday • April 13 • 12:00 PM
POR: TBD
WSU: TBD
 
LAST WEEK FOR PORTLAND
• The Pilots sit at 20-13 overall and 6-6 in WCC play, defeating the then-No. 21 Oregon Ducks in a midweek bout before being swept by the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
• The Pilots bounced back in a big way with their 13-9 victory over the Ducks, blasting two home runs late to take the victory.
• Portland's 13 runs came on 10 hits, with Katayama-Stall and Jonas Salk both homering. It was the eighth of the year for Katayama-Stall and the fifth for Salk.
• Salk had four RBI's on the day while Katayama-Stall had three. Salk now has 106 RBI's for his career, good for the 15th most in program history.
• Cody Nitowitz posted a 2-for-4 day as well with three RBI's.
• The win over the Ducks was the fourth straight for Portland against Oregon and the sixth in the last seven contests. The Pilots swept the season series for the second year in a row.
• The Pilots also became the fastest WCC team to 20 wins this season and have now reached the total in eight of the last nine seasons. It's the first time they've posted six straight seasons of 20 wins or more since a stretch between 2007-12.
• Portland has earned three wins this year now against ranked opponents.
• Against the Zags, the Pilots struggled, dropping all three contests up in Spokane.
• Portland fell 12-6 and 11-3 in the first two games but put together eight runs in the seventh inning and another in the ninth push the Bulldogs. They ultimately fell 12-11.
• Trey Swygart hit .600 over the series in 10 at-bats and added five RBI's to lead the Pilots in both categories.
• Nitowitz also hit .444 over the weekend and drew an incredible eight walks across three games.
• Katayama-Stall blasted his ninth home run of the year and his fifth in WCC play on Sunday. His nine homers match his total from last season with over a month of games to play.
• Katayama-Stall now has 18 homers for his career, entering the top 20 for Portland in career homers.
 
PEEK INTO THE PORT
• The Pilots' pitching staff has been lights out, ranking first in the conference in ERA (4.08), WHIP (1.37), fewest walks (118) and fewest total runs (149).
• Offensively, Their .414 slugging percentage ranks third in the WCC.
• The Pilots also boast the highest win-loss percentage in the conference at .606 and was the first team this year to 20 wins.
• Will Labonte is second in the conference in ERA and first among all WCC freshman. He is sixth nationally among all Freshmen.
• Labonte isn't the only freshman impressing on the mound, with Alex Via's seven saves leading the WCC and also ranking among the most of any freshman nationally.
• Via's seven saves are already the most by any true freshman in program history and the most by any Pilot in two years.
• Carter Gaston's four wins are tied for second in the conference and are the most on the Pilots. Gaston's also posted a 1.73 ERA in 26 innings pitched this year.
• Cody Nitowitz is batting a team-high .327 this season with a team-high .473 on-base percentage as well. His 29 walks drawn this year are the most by any WCC player this year and his OBP ranks second.
• In conference play, Nitowitz also leads the WCC in walks at 14 after drawing eight walks this weekend.
• Katayama-Stall is also tied for first in home runs at nine, with his five home runs in WCC play alone ranking second in the conference. In conference play, he's also sixth in slugging (.833), tied for sixth in batting average (.400) and ninth in OBP (.400).
• Katayama-Stall leads the Pilots and ranks fourth in the conference in slugging at .636.
• Amongst fellow Pilots, Katayama-Stall's 18 homers in two seasons cracks the top 20 all-time. The last Pilot to hit at least 18 homers in his first two seasons was Zach Toglia (2023-24).
• Nitowitz and Katayama-Stall are the only two qualified Pilots batting over .300 currently, with Nitowitz at .327 and Katayama-Stall at .308.
• Brady Bean and Jonas Salk have 22 and 24 home runs for their careers respectively, with 20 of Bean's homers coming with the Pilots. Bean ranks tied for 15th all-time while Salk is tied for ninth all-time.
• Salk is also fourth all-time for Portland in hit by pitch, having been beaned by 42 pitches in his career, and tied for 13th in RBI's at 107.
• Labonte has been named to the National Pitcher of the Year Watch List as well as earning Perfect Game Midseason Freshman All-American honors, making the second team.
• Trey Swygart was named to the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Watch List for the second year in a row, becoming the only Pilot in program history to do so.
 
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 252 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 250 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 COUGARS
• The Washington State Cougars are 18-17 on the season and 7-5 in Mountain West play, most recently sweeping Gardner-Webb at home for their fourth straight win. They also took one of two games against the No. 7 Oregon State Beavers.
• Their win total already matches what they reached last season, when they went 18-36 overall and 11-19 in Mountain West play. They were last in the conference.
• The Cougars were picked to finish eighth in the Mountain West this year, with Max Hartman as their lone preseason team selection.
• Hartman is batting .292 and has a team-high 12 stolen bases on the year. Roy Gavin is the top batter this season for the Cougars at .376 overall.
• Nathan Choate is in his third season as head coach of the Cougars. He is 57-85 overall since taking the job in Pullman and is 134-180-1 for his career. 
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