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Trey Swygart celebrates his home run on third base.

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Pilots to Play Final Road Series Against Pepperdine

MALIBU, Calif. – Portland Pilots Baseball heads to Malibu this weekend for their final road weekend series of the 2026 season, taking on the Pepperdine Waves. The Pilots and Waves begin their three-game series on Friday, May 8 at 3 p.m. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats and video options.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Opponent: Pepperdine Waves (18-29, 12-9 WCC)
Date: Fri-Sun, May 8-10
Location: Malibu, Calif.
Ballpark: Eddy D. Field Stadium
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
Against PEPP: 30-75
Last vs. PEPP: @POR 8, PEPP 7 ('25)
 
PROBABLE STARTERS (2026 W-L, ERA)
Friday • May 8 • 3:00 PM
POR: RHP Will Labonte (3-2, 2.40)
PEPP: LHP Casey Euper (4-3, 2.91)
 
Saturday • May 9 • 2:00 PM
POR: RHP Trey Newmann (2-5, 5.63)
PEPP: RHP Tommy Scavone (5-3, 4.13)
 
Sunday • May 10 • 12:00 PM
POR: TBD
PEPP: LHP Collin Valentine (2-5, 4.13)
 
LAST TIME OUT
• The Portland Pilots are 25-20 overall and 11-10 in WCC play. They've reached 25 wins for the fourth time in the last five seasons and the fourth time overall since head coach Geoff Loomis took over in 2016.
• The Pilots recently took two of three games against the San Diego Toreros to remain in a three-way tie for fifth in the WCC before falling in their midweek game against the No. 10 Oregon State Beavers.
• Portland took games 1 and 3 against the Toreros, winning 9-6 on Thursday and 9-5 on Sunday.
• Trey Swygart went both ways for Thursday's game, pitching six innings for Portland and also hitting a grand slam in the contest. He had two home runs and five RBI's over the weekend.
• With his two homers, he's up to five home runs on the season.
• Leo Cote also had two home runs and five RBI's and was the top batter overall for Portland, batting .636 across three games and posting an OPS of 1.797.
• His homers were the fifth and sixth of his season and his career.
• Cody Nitowitz added the first home run of his career on Saturday, a three-run bomb that put the Pilots up by three late in the contest.
• Will Labonte once again was stellar on the mound, going six innings with just one run and six hits allowed as well as six strikeouts.
• Labonte has posted at least five strikeouts in five of his last six appearances and has thrown at least six innings in five of those six as well.
• Against the Beavers, the Pilots pushed Oregon State to a 12-inning marathon game before falling 6-4 at Hillsboro Ballpark.
• The 12-inning game is the longest the Pilots have played this season.
• Swygart and Cote saw continued success with the long ball, hitting their sixth and seventh home runs in the contest. They've hit three homers each in the last four games.
• Cole Katayama-Stall went 1-for-5 with a two-run double in the eighth that put the Pilots up late as well.
• Eight different pitchers threw against the Beavs, with Quin Dufort officially taking the loss.
• This is the first loss the Pilots have taken against a ranked opponent this season.
 
PEEK INTO THE PORT
• The Pilots pitching staff has been solid this season, ranking first in the conference in ERA (4.16), WHIP (1.38), walks allowed per nine innings (3.61) and shutouts (3) and ranks second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.18).
• Nationally, they rank 21st in ERA, 30th in walks allowed per nine, 37th in shutouts and 42nd in WHIP.
• Offensively, their 214 walks are the most in the conference.
• The Pilots were the first team in the WCC to 20 wins this season and rank second in win percentage (.556).
• Will Labonte is second in the conference in ERA (2.40) and first among all WCC freshmen. He is 27th nationally – second among all freshmen – and has allowed the fewest amount of earned runs of any freshman with more than 60 innings thrown.
• Labonte is the only freshman to have an ERA under 3.00 with at least 60 innings thrown as well.
• No Pilot true freshman has thrown as many innings (63.2) 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 nine saves leading the WCC, ranking 14th nationally and also ranking among the most of any freshman nationally.
• Via's nine 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.
• Trey Newmann is seventh in the WCC in strikeouts (62) and is the only Pilot with more than 60 strikeouts this season.
• Newmann is third in the WCC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.88) and also fifth in strikeouts per nine innings (9.96).
• Cody Nitowitz and Cole Katayama-Stall are two of the best batters at drawing walks in the league, ranking first and third respectively in the conference. Nitowitz has 36 walks on the year while Katayama-Stall has 35, and in conference play Nitowitz is the only player with 20 walks while Katayama-Stall is second at 17.
• Nitowitz leads the league in walks per game at 0.80 while Katayama-Stall is third at 0.78
• Katayama-Stall is the Pilots' leader in home runs (9), slugging percentage (.544) and stolen bases (11). He's tied for eighth in home runs and tied for third in steals in the WCC.
• 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).
• In conference play, Nitowitz's .490 on-base percentage ranks third.
• Trey Swygart has been stellar in conference play as well, leading the WCC in on-base percentage against WCC opponents (.527) and ranking sixth in batting average (.394) and slugging percentage (.648).
• Swygart's 2.73 ERA in WCC play ranks fifth as well.
• Swygart was named John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year semifinalist, becoming the only Pilot in program history to do so.
• 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.
• Bean's 114 RBI's ranks 10th all-time for Portland as well.
• Salk is also third all-time for Portland in hit by pitch, having been beaned by 44 pitches in his career, and is 13th in RBI's at 108.
 
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 258 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 WAVES
• The Pepperdine Waves are 18-29 overall and 12-9 in WCC play, dropping two of three games against the San Francisco Dons last weekend and losing their midweek bout against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.
• They've surpassed their win total from last season, when they went 12-42 and 7-17 in WCC play. Portland took two of three games against the Waves last year.
• The Waves were picked to finish ninth in the WCC this season.
• Tyler LaTorre is in his second year as head coach of the Waves, having gone 30-71 in that span. Prior to his stint with Pepperdine, he went 81-24-3 in two seasons with the Westmont Warriors.
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