The Effingham Lady Hearts belted three home runs and rolled to a 14-4 win in the opening game of a doubleheader Saturday in Mt. Zion.

But the Lady Braves got a walk-off, two-run homer by Audri Johnson in the nightcap to come away with an 8-7 win and a split of the twin-bill.

It was the conference opener for both teams.

In the first game, Grace Bushur, Abby Cunningham and Mya Harvey each went deep to help EHS get the 10-run, five-inning victory.

The Lady Hearts jumped on top quick thanks to the long ball. Bushur started the game with a solo blast. Then after Riley Cunningham singled, Abby Cunningham drilled a two-run shot to stake EHS to a 3-0 lead.

Effingham scored three runs in the second, added a single tally in the third and then erupted for seven runs in the fourth, with two of those coming home on a home run by Harvey.

EHS finished with 14 hits. Bushur, Abby Cunningham and Harvey each had two hits and Harvey finished with four RBI.

Sawyer Althoff was the winning pitcher. She allowed just one hit, while striking out four and walking three over 4.2 innings of work.

In the nightcap, the Lady Hearts led 7-4 after five innings. But Mt. Zion scored twice in the bottom of the sixth and then won it when Johnson belted a two-run homer with one out in the seventh.

Effingham combined three hits, two walks and a pair of errors to take a 3-1 lead in the second.

In the fourth, Althoff singled, Daelyn Dunston was hit by a pitch and Bushur collected her second round-tripper of the game, belting a three-run homer to put EHS back on top, 6-4. The Lady Hearts added another run in the fifth, but couldn’t hold onto the lead.

Althoff took the loss.

The Lady Hearts, now 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference, will play at home today (Monday) against Newton.