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Isaac Pfeifer returns to the dugout.

Baseball

Pilots Host Dons in Return to Joe Etzel Field

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots return home to host the San Francisco Dons for a three-game conference series at Joe Etzel Field. The two teams begin their series on Friday, Apr. 17 at 6 p.m.
 
Friday's game will also be Portland's first baseball game to be broadcast on KUNP. Check local listings for the broadcast as well as ESPN+ for the stream. Check PortlandPilots.com for tickets, live stats and video options.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: San Francisco Dons (18-16, 9-3 WCC)
Dates: Fri-Sun, Apr. 17-19
Location: Portland, Ore.
Ballpark: Joe Etzel Field
TV: KUNP (Friday Only)
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Against USF: 39-69
Last vs. USF: POR 6, @USF 9 ('25)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (2026 W-L, ERA)
Friday • April 17 • 6:00 PM
POR: RHP Will Labonte (3-1, 2.23)
USF: RHP Gabriel Barret (1-3, 4.37)
 
Saturday • April 18 • 3:00 PM
POR: RHP Trey Newmann (2-4, 5.36)
USF: RHP Gauge Lockhart (3-1, 5.54)
 
Sunday • April 19 • 1:00 PM
POR: RHP Trey Swygart (3-0, 3.07)
USF: RHP Adrian Valdez (3-2, 3.79)
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Portland Pilots are 20-14 overall and 6-6 in WCC play after dropping the last four games against the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Washington State Cougars.
• 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.
• Against the Cougars, the Pilots fell behind early and couldn't make up the gap, losing 9-3 in Pullman.
• Nolan Miller was the only Pilot to record multiple hits, batting 2-for-2 with two walks, while Dakota Chun hit his second homer of the season and of his career.
• Chun was involved in all three runs scored for the Pilots on Monday.
 
PEEK INTO THE PORT
• The Pilots' pitching staff has been solid this season, ranking first in the conference in ERA (4.18), WHIP (1.38) and walks allowed per nine innings (3.69) and ranking second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.22).
• Nationally, they rank 30th in ERA and 37th in walks allowed per nine.
• Offensively, they are third in the conference in slugging (.409), scoring (5.8) and total runs (198).
• The Pilots were the first team in the WCC to 20 wins this season and ranks second in win percentage (.588).
• Will Labonte is second in the conference in ERA and first among all WCC freshman. He is fourth nationally among all Freshmen.
• Labonte is the only Pilot to have won multiple WCC Player of the Week honors, twice earning WCC Freshman of the week.
• 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 .314 this season with a team-high .459 on-base percentage as well. His 29 walks drawn this year are the second most by any WCC player this year and his OBP ranks fourth.
• In conference play, Nitowitz also leads the WCC in walks at 14 after drawing eight walks last weekend against Gonzaga.
• 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 third in the conference in slugging at .633. He's the only Pilot with an OPS above 1.000 (1.087)
• 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 .314 and Katayama-Stall at .312.
• 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 DONS
• The San Francisco Dons are 18-16 on the year and tied for first in the WCC with a 9-3 conference record. They beat the San Diego Toreros most recently in two of three games before dropping a midweek contest to the Sacramento State Hornets.
• They've already matched their total for wins in conference last year, having finished the season at 26-30 overall and 9-15 against WCC opponents. They took two of three games against the Pilots in San Francisco last season.
• The Dons were picked to finish seventh in the conference this season, with TJ Rogers earning All-WCC Preseason Honors.
• Rogers is hitting .284 on the year with nine home runs and nine doubles. An All-WCC Second Team selection last season, Rogers is tied for first in the conference in homers with Pilot infielder Katayama-Stall.
• Rob DiToma is in his fourth year in charge of the Dons. As head coach of San Francisco, he's posted an 83-109 record.
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