Grace Bushur and Riley Cunningham had key two-out hits in a big fourth inning and Saige Althoff scattered six hits over seven innings, leading the Effingham Lady Hearts to a 7-1 win at home Friday over Charleston in the opening game of an Apollo Conference doubleheader.

The Lady Trojans bounced back in the nightcap, exploding for eight fifth-inning runs, en route to a 9-4 win and a split in the DH.

In the opener, Effingham had single tallies in the first and third and then broke the game open in the fourth. Jennifer Jamison and Tori Budde singled and Saige Althoff walked to load the bases with no outs. They were still there with two outs when Bushur ripped a double, bringing all three runners home. Riley Cunningham followed with a two-run blast over the centerfield fence to cap the five-run frame.

Saige Althoff went all seven innings, allowing just six hits and one unearned run. She didn’t walk a batter and struck out six.

The Lady Hearts held a 1-0 lead when Charleston came to bat in the fifth. The Lady Trojans had only two hits in the inning, but took advantage of five walks, two hit batters and an error to push eight runs across the plate.

Abby Cunningham had an RBI double for EHS in the third and Sawyer Althoff drove in a run with a base hit in the sixth. In the seventh, Bushur led off with a double and Riley Cunningham followed with her second home run of the day, a two-run shot over the leftfield fence.

Saige Althoff took the loss, working the first 4.1 innings. Riley Cunningham pitched the rest of the way.

The Lady Hearts are now 9-9 overall and 5-5 in league play. They will play today (Saturday) in the Robinson Softball Invitational.