Baseball Game Preview: Imperial Tigers vs. La Jolla Vikings

The Imperial Tigers will venture away from home to take on the La Jolla Vikings at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.

Imperial's tournament run continued when they took on Rancho Buena Vista on Wednesday. The Tigers fell just short of the Longhorns by a score of 2-1. The Tigers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.

Imperial saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Izaiah Perez, who went 1-for-3 with one RBI. Julian Jimenez also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

La Jolla had taken Brawley down for two straight games at home, but that winning streak came to an end on Wednesday. The Vikings came up short against the Wildcats, falling 13-4. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Vikings have suffered since May 21, 2024.

Hank Hansen made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and went 1-for-2 with one home run and two RBI.

La Jolla has also been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four contests. That's put a noticeable dent in their 6-8 record this season. As for Imperial, their loss dropped their record down to 9-6.

Imperial beat La Jolla 5-2 in their previous matchup back in March of 2024. Will the Tigers repeat their success, or do the Vikings have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.