Baseball Game Preview: Irvine Vaqueros vs. Aliso Niguel Wolverines

The Irvine Vaqueros will head out to challenge the Aliso Niguel Wolverines at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.

The scorekeeper got an easy start on Tuesday as neither Irvine nor El Modena made it on the board until the fifth inning. The Vaqueros fell just short of the Vanguards by a score of 3-2. The Vaqueros have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Ethan Kim was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he struck out ten batters over 6.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. That's the fewest hits he has allowed since back in April of 2025.

At the plate, Irvine saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Smith Spivey, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI. Nico Macalino also deserves some recognition as he scored his first run of the season.

Meanwhile, Aliso Niguel and El Toro finished up on equal footing with a 3-3 draw on Wednesday.

With that draw, Aliso Niguel's record moves to 3-0-1. As for Irvine, they now have a losing record of 2-3.

Irvine came up short against Aliso Niguel when the teams last played back in March of 2017, falling 8-3. Can the Vaqueros avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.