YUMA, Ariz. – The Arizona Western College Matadors Baseball team (10-2, 1-1) split an ACCAC doubleheader with South Mountain (5-6, 1-1) on Tuesday afternoon at Walt Kammann Baseball Field, winning game one 7-3 before falling 9-4 in game two in 12 innings.

The Matadors used a five-run fifth inning to break a scoreless tie and pull away for a conference-opening win in game one.

Carlos Uribe kept the Cougars off the board for five innings, striking out two batters and allowing just two hits in the win. The Matadors didn't get their first base runner until the fifth inning when Sergio DeCello led off the inning with a walk and later scored on a fielder's choice, giving the Matadors a 1-0 lead. Mason Ulm then drove in a run with a single before Jahzeel Groetelaers smashed a three-run homer to push the lead to 5-0.

After South Mountain scored a pair of runs, the Matadors got those two runs back on an Ulm single in the sixth inning.

Ulm finished the game with two hits while DeCello doubled and scored a pair of runs in the win.

The Matadors jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second game, scoring a run in the fourth inning on a Bronson Neave RBI double and added the second run in the sixth inning when Taehyung Kim drew a bases-loaded walk.

South Mountain tied the game with a two-run homer in the eighth and then sent 11 batters to the plate in the 12^th inning, scoring seven runs. The Matadors scored two in the bottom of the 12^th on a DeCello double and a Nathan Houston single.

Mac Robertson threw six shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out five batters in a no-decision while Neave finished the game 2-for-6 with a pair of doubles in the loss.

The Matadors head out on the road, going to Thatcher for an ACCAC doubleheader with Eastern Arizona on Saturday, February 17 at Noon.