Baseball Game Preview: Portola Bulldogs vs. University Trojans

Portola and University are an even 5-5 against one another since March of 2022, but likely not for long. The Bulldogs will head out to challenge the Trojans at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. Portola will be strutting in after a win while University will be coming in after a defeat.

Portola's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed last Thursday. Everything went their way against St. Margaret's as they made off with a 13-0 victory. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Bulldogs.

Brendan Villanueva

Hits Against

03/27/25 @ St. Margaret's	2
03/22/25 @ Beckman	2
03/04/25 vs Marina	0
02/26/25 @ Cerritos	1
02/20/25 @ Costa Mesa	1
02/18/25 vs Capistrano Valley	1

The result came thanks to Brendan Villanueva's shutout, as he gave up just two hits. He has been consistent : he hasn't given up more than two hits in six consecutive appearances.

At the plate, Portola got a massive performance out of Jack Wang, who went 3-for-5 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. That's the most RBI Wang has posted since back in February. Another player making a difference was Cooper Marinelli, who went a perfect 4-for-4 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.

Wang wasn't the only one making solid contact: Portola kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 17 hits. That's a new trend for the Bulldogs: they were averaging 5.1 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 games they've averaged 10.8.

Meanwhile, Wednesday just wasn't the day for University's offense. They came up short against Yucaipa on Wednesday, falling 8-0. The Trojans just can't catch a break and have now endured three losses in a row.

Portola's win bumped their record up to 7-8. As for University, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-7.

Portola skirted past University 5-3 in their previous meeting back in March. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Bulldogs since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.