The Arizona Western College Matadors Baseball team's (34-12, 21-11) bats stayed hot, scoring 18 runs on its way to a doubleheader split with Central Arizona (40-11, 27-7) on Tuesday afternoon, in Coolidge, Ariz., falling short in game one, losing 9-8 before winning game two 11-7.

Tyler Houston and Taehyung Kim each drove in a pair of runs as the Matadors rally fell short in a 9-8 loss in game one.

Central Arizona jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first three innings before the Matadors' offense got going in the fifth inning, scoring five runs to pull within one run at 6-5. Bronson Neave got the scoring started with an RBI single before Kim drove in two runs with a single. After a Luca Hoerger sacrifice fly, Fausto Sanchez drove in a run with a single.

The Vaqueros built the lead back up to four runs at 9-5 before the Matadors took a run back on a bases-loaded walk worked by Robert Miranda before Houston drove in a pair with a single but the Matadors left the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the 9-8 loss.

Hoerger had a pair of hits and drove in three runs while both Miranda and Sergio DeCello each drove in two runs in an 11-7 win in game two.

Arizona Western opened the scoring in the first inning with a run on a Hoerger single before DeCello added the second run by stealing home. After Central scored a run in its half of the first inning, DeCello doubled in a pair on a grounder down the left field line.

The Vaqueros tied the game in the third inning, scoring three runs to even the score at 4-4. The Matadors responded with four runs in the fourth inning, retaking the lead on a Miranda RBI double and adding three more runs on a Houston ground out and a Hoerger two-run double.

The Matadors scored three runs in the sixth inning before Central Arizona scored the final three runs of the game. Yoni Castro provided the Matadors with six innings of relief before Carlos Uribe finished the game off in the ninth inning.

Arizona Western returns home on Saturday, April 27, hosting Yavapai for an ACCAC doubleheader at Walt Kammann Baseball Field beginning at Noon.