As Charleston High School sophomore Railyn Cox prepared to throw her first pitch of the afternoon, Trojans fans that packed the set of bleachers near the Charleston dugout watched along in anticipation.

A large bumblebee was even in attendance, enjoying the sunny skies and warm temperatures while battling with the slight breeze blowing in from right field for a premium view right behind where the umpire was standing.

The Trojans, who have technically played multiple home games already this season, were excited for their true home opener.

The Charleston softball team was finally back at Karch Field for the first time since a sinkhole swallowed centerfield in the fall and forced the Trojans to host teams across town at Neco Field while the grass regrew.

Charleston marked its first game back by scoring eight runs in the first two innings and holding on to beat Marshall 10-9 Monday afternoon.

“Great to be back,” head coach Allyson O’Dell said. “The atmosphere is always better, and the fan support helps a ton.”

The Trojans (12-6, 2-2), who had lost three of their last four games after a five-game winning streak earlier in the season, scored two runs with their first three hitters in back-to-back innings.

Junior Avery Beals reached base after bunting and beating out the throw from the Marshall (14-5, 3-1) pitcher. Freshman Lainie Keefer walked, and Cox hit a line drive double into the right-center gap that drove in both runners on base.

Charleston scored five runs in the first inning, sending all the hitters in the batting order to the plate. So when the bottom of the second inning began, Beals once again reached on a bunt single, and after Keefer reached base, Cox drove them both in.

“They’re rowdy in the dugout and they’re rowdy on the field,” O’Dell said. “If they can get us picked up, I think that really kind of sets the pace a little bit for us.”

Marshall then began to chip away at an 8-1 deficit. The Lions scored in every inning since the third, outhitting Charleston 13-10, but they couldn’t tie the game.

“I think we were just playing against ourselves a lot,” O’Dell said. “A lot of our mistakes were mental errors and just playing sloppy and not paying attention to what we’re doing.”

The closest point of the game came in the top of the sixth inning, when the Lions had a runner at third base with two outs. Cox fielded a bunt and realized she had no chance to get the out at first base, so she faked the throw and instead threw the ball to third.

However, Beals wasn’t ready for the throw, which hit her in the face mask, and the ball bounded up the left field foul line, allowing the runner at third base to score and the tying run to get to third. That was one of a season-high four errors committed by Charleston.

Cox was able to get the next batter to fly out to left field to end the inning.

After back-to-back RBI singles in the bottom of the sixth inning by the Trojans to make the score 10-7, Marshall fought back with two runs of its own. Cox was able to get the final batter to ground out to win her Apollo Conference-leading 10th game of the season.

Beals, who leads the conference in stolen bases with 18 and is second in the conference in batting average at .515, bunted in every single plate appearance she had and reached base in all but her last at-bat, when she popped up her bunt and it stayed in the air long enough for the pitcher to make a diving catch.

“She just kind of reads the field and knows she’s fast and I kind of give her the green light for whatever she’s feeling that day,” O’Dell said.

The Trojans play Robinson on Wednesday for the second game of their five-game homestand. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.