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Bluff Boys Head to Santa Clara for Three-Game Series Against Broncos

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Portland Pilots play the Santa Clara Broncos in a three-game conference series this weekend at Stephen Schott Stadium. The series begins on Friday, Apr. 24 at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video options.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: Santa Clara Broncos (14-25, 3-12 WCC)
Date: Fri-Sun, Apr. 24-26
Location: Santa Clara, Calif.
Ballpark: Stephen Schott Stadium
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Against SCU: 50-58
Last vs. SCU: @POR 1, SCU 5 ('25)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (2026 W-L, ERA)
Friday • April 24 • 6:00 PM
POR: RHP Will Labonte (3-1, 2.26)
SCU: RHP Max Bayles (3-3, 2.90)
 
Saturday • April 25 • 1:00 PM
POR: RHP Trey Newmann (2-4, 5.44)
SCU: RHP Jace Gillmore (1-4, 3.63)
 
Sunday • April 26 • 12:00 PM
POR: RHP Trey Swygart (4-0, 1.73)
SCU: RHP Tyler Alleman (1-1, 3.92)
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Portland Pilots are 22-16 overall and 8-7 in WCC play, taking their weekend series against the San Francisco Dons before falling to the Washington Huskies in a neutral site midweek showdown.
• Against the Dons, Portland took the games on Friday and Sunday, earning a 5-3 win on Friday and belting the Dons 11-0 in seven innings on Sunday.
• Portland's 11-0 shutout win is their third shutout victory of the season, tied for first in the WCC.
• Sunday's win came in large part because of the performance of Trey Swygart, who went a career-high 6.1 shutout innings with five strikeouts. It's the sixth time overall he's had a shutout appearance on the mound.
• In the same game, Swygart went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored.
• Trey Newmann also had a stellar performance on the mound, going six innings with six hits and four runs allowed but 12 strikeouts. His 12 K's were a career high and also the most by any Piot this season.
• Cole Katayama-Stall was stellar the whole week, batting .429 over the week with two doubles and five RBI's. He recorded multiple hits in two of four games.
• Leo Cote hit the only home run for Portland in the series, a pinch-hit three-run bomb in the Saturday contest. It was the fourth homer of his career.
• Against the Huskies, the bats struggled, with Portland falling 8-1 at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreational Complex.
• Brady Bean and Cote had the lone hits for Portland, with Bean's double bringing home one run for Portland.
 
PEEK INTO THE PORT
• The Pilots' pitching staff has been solid this season, ranking first in the conference in ERA (4.11), WHIP (1.38), walks allowed per nine innings (3.69), strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.24) and shutouts (3).
• Nationally, they rank 22nd in ERA, 27th in shutouts, 37th in walks allowed per nine and 46th in WHIP.
• Offensively, their 182 walks are the most in the conference.
• The Pilots were the first team in the WCC to 20 wins this season and ranks second in win percentage (.579).
• Will Labonte is second in the conference in ERA (2.26) and first among all WCC freshmen. He is third nationally among all freshmen and has allowed the fewest amount of earned runs of any freshman with more than 50 innings thrown.
• No Pilot true freshman has thrown as many innings (51.2) as Labonte since Eli Morse in the 2018 season.
• Labonte is the only Pilot to have won multiple WCC Player of the Week honors, twice earning WCC Freshman of the Week.
• The Montreal native was named a College Baseball Hall of Fame 2026 National Pitcher of the Year semifinalist, becoming the first Pilot since 2022 to earn the honor. He was one of just two freshmen to make the list and one of two players from the WCC.
• Labonte isn't the only freshman impressing on the mound, with Alex Via's eight saves leading the WCC, ranking 14th nationally and also ranking among the most of any freshman nationally.
• Via's eight saves are already the most by any true freshman in program history and the most by any Pilot in two years.
• Via has also earned national recognition, becoming a semifinalist for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year, which honors the top relief pitchers in the country. Via is the second Pilot in three years to make the list.
• After a big Saturday start, Trey Newmann is fifth in the WCC in strikeouts (54) and is the only Pilot with at least 50 K's on the year.
• Newmann is also third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.50), fourth in strikeouts per nine (10.49) and sixth in walks allowed per nine (2.33).
• Kaden Segel also ranks high in those categories, coming third in walks allowed per nine (1.91) and fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.89).
• Cole Katayama-Stall has been the top batter for the Pilots, hitting .315 with nine home runs, 33 RBI's and an OPS of 1.062.
• He is second in slugging percentage in the conference (.613) and home runs (9), fourth in OBP (.455) and fifth in RBI's (31).
• Cody Nitowitz is the only other Pilot batting over .300 (.305) and is second in the conference in walks (31) and walks per game (0.82).
• 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).
• 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 43 pitches in his career, and is tied for 13th in RBI's at 107.
• Trey Swygart was named John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year semifinalist, 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 255 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 BRONCOS
• The Santa Clara Broncos are 14-25 on the season and 3-12 in WCC play, most recently losing a midweek contest to the Stanford Cardinal and getting swept by the Pacific Tigers.
• Last season, the Broncos went 20-30 overall and 7-17 in WCC play to take eighth in the conference. The Pilots won two of their three contests against Santa Clara last year.
• The Broncos were picked to finish sixth in the WCC this season, with RHP Max Bayles being the lone Bronco to earn All-WCC Preseason honors.
• Bayles has been the top pitcher for the Broncos this year, posting a 2.90 ERA in 10 starts with 76 strikeouts. His total K's currently leads the WCC.
• Rusty Filter is in his ninth year with the Broncos. He's gone 188-234 in those nine years at Santa Clara.
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