Gavin Bailey belted a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning Saturday, lifting Mahomet-Seymour to a 4-3 victory over Effingham in the first game of an Apollo Conference doubleheader at Evergreen Hollow Park.

The visiting Bulldogs completed the sweep with a 12-1 win in the nightcap.

In the opener, the Hearts held a 3-0 lead and starting pitcher Kaiden Nichols was cruising along with a three-hit shutout. But with one out in the seventh, Nichols reached his limit of 108 pitches and had to be taken out of the game.

The Bulldogs responded. A single, walk and an error loaded the bases with two outs. And on a 3-2 pitch, Bailey drove the ball over the rightfield fence for what proved to be the game-winner.

Mahomet-Seymour reliever Caden Starrick allowed a two-out hit in the bottom of the seventh, but got the final out to secure the win.

Effingham took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Colton Webb. The Hearts added two more tallies in the fourth. Braxton Lewis singled and Braden Verdeyen walked. Kaden Koeberlein drove in the first run with a base hit and the second run came across after a double steal.

Nichols made that stand up through 6.1 innings of work. The lefthander walked just one and struck out 10. Jude Traub relieved first and Koeberlein came in two batters later and took the loss.

EHS also took a 1-0 lead in the opening frame of the nightcap after back-to-back doubles by Spencer Fox and Cam Raddatz. But the Hearts had only one hit the rest of the way, a third-inning single by Nichols.

The Bulldogs put together six-run frames in both the third and fourth to take control. They combined four hits and three errors in the third and then had four hits and three walks in the fourth.

Webb pitched the first three innings for Effingham and took the loss. He allowed six hits and six unearned runs. He walked three and struck out five. Carter Braddy and Raddatz came on in relief.

The Hearts dropped to 9-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference. They will return to action Thursday at North Clay.