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.

Mya Harvey came up in crucial situations twice Saturday and delivered both times.

The freshman had a game-winning walk-off RBI single in the seventh inning of the opener and then delivered a two-out two-run single in the bottom of the sixth of the nightcap to help the Effingham Lady Hearts notch two wins.

Effingham survived a furious rally by Lincoln to win the opener 7-6 and then used Harvey’s big hit to complete a rally and post an 8-7 decision in second game to gain the doubleheader sweep at home.

In the first game, the Lady Hearts seemingly had a comfortable 6-0 lead heading to the seventh. But the Lady Railsplitters combined three hits, two walks, two errors and a hit batter to tally six times and tie the score.

But in the bottom of the seventh, Riley Cunningham led off with a base hit and pinch-runner Jerzi Bierman went to third on a base hit by Abby Cunningham. Harvey then came through with the walk-off single, clinching the win for EHS.

Riley Cunningham also had a two-run single in the six-run fifth. Sidney Donaldson added an RBI single and two runs scored on an error.

In the second game, Lincoln scored five runs in the top of the fourth to take a 6-3 lead. But the Lady Hearts were able to come back. They scored two runs in the fourth and got an RBI single by Sawyer Althoff in the fifth to tie the game at 6-6.

Lincoln went on top with a run in the top of the sixth, but the Lady Hearts responded in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Riley Cunningham singled. Bierman again came in as the pinch-runner. She raced to third on a base hit by Abby Cunningham and Cunningham went to second on the throw to third. Harvey then came through with another clutch hit, ripping a single to drive in both runners.

Saige Althoff was the winning pitcher in both games.

The Lady Hearts improved to 7-7 overall and 4-4 in league play. They will play Monday at home against Teutopolis. Game time is 4:30 p.m.

Grace Bushur went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs and Saige Althoff turned in a strong pitching performance, helping the Effingham Lady Hearts post a 10-2 win at home Tuesday afternoon over Altamont.

The Lady Hearts scored in five different innings, plating single tallies in the first and third, adding two runs in the second and fourth and completing their scoring with a four-run sixth.

Bushur was part of several of those innings. She had a lead-off double in the first – the first of her three doubles -- and scored on a two-out double by Sidney Donaldson. Bushur had RBI double and Daelyn Dunston added a run-scoring single in the third.

Bushur had another RBI double as part of the four-run sixth. Abby Cunningham also drove in a run with a ground out and the final two runs scored on errors.

Saige Althoff went all seven innings. She allowed four hits and two runs while walking three and striking out eight.

The Lady Hearts improved to 8-8 overall and 4-4 in league play. They will play an Apollo Conference doubleheader at home Friday against Charleston.

The Effingham Lady Hearts banged out 11 hits and took advantage of nine errors to post a 14-2 victory and salvage a split in an Apollo Conference doubleheader Saturday at Mattoon,

The Green Wave used a one-out, walk-off RBI single by Ivie Edwards in the bottom of the seventh of the opening game to come away with a 10-9 win.

In the nightcap, EHS held a slim 2-1 lead after two innings, but then scored three in the third, five more in the fourth and pushed four across in the fifth to end the game.

Jennifer Jamison had a two-run single in the third. The Lady Hearts combined two hits, three walks, two errors and a wild pitch to tally five times in the fourth and got a big two-run single from Tori Budde in the fifth.

Saige Althoff was the winning pitcher. She went all five innings, allowing eight hits and two runs, while walking two and striking out three.

The opening game was a back-and-forth affair.

The Green Wave built a 6-1 lead after two innings. The Lady Hearts closed to within 6-4 when Riley Cunningham had an RBI single and Abby Cunningham added a two-run base hit in the third.

EHS added another run in the fourth and took a 7-6 lead in the top of the fifth on a two-run single by Sidney Donaldson. Mattoon regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Lady Hearts went back on top, 9-8, in the sixth, using three Green Wave errors and a two-run double by Abby Cunningham, who finished with four RBI.

But Mattoon tied the game in the bottom of the sixth and then won it on Edwards’ RBI single in the seventh.

Saige Althoff took the loss.

The Lady Hearts are now 5-7 overall and 2-4 in league play. They will play Wednesday at Richland County (Olney).