AUBURN — When Alix Howard left the game Wednesday afternoon, she had a seemingly comfortable eight-run lead.

When the junior pitcher returned to the circle in relief in the sixth, her Mt. Abram softball team was clinging to a narrow advantage with St. Dom’s threatening.

The Roadrunners had a 14-6 lead to protect in the fourth, but were only up 18-14 in the sixth when Howard returned. She inherited two runners and a 3-1 pitch count on the batter.

“I was just thinking that I needed to throw strikes,” said Howard, who pitched the first three innings. “I knew they were hitting the ball, and they weren’t afraid to hit. I couldn’t throw it over the middle or they were going to creme it. I just had it in my head — work the zone and take what I can get.”

Howard escaped the sixth, leave the Saints’ tying run at third. She then escaped the final inning, and Mt. Abram survived, 22-18.

“After the tough loss to Madison, this is definitely something to be proud of and we’ll keep working on it,” said Howard, who also had three hits and drove in three runs.

The Bulldogs the Roadrunners in the teams’ season opener, 12-0, held Mt. Abram to only one hit. Wednesday, Mt. Abram pounded out 23 hits. Lili Taylor led the charge with five hits and five RBI. Jill Howard also had five hits and drove in a run. Katie Jordan drove in three with two hits, and Sam Werzanski had three hits and one RBI.

“It’s nice to see our bats come through for us, Mt. Abram coach Tom McCafferty said. “It should give them a little more confidence going into the next game.”

The Roadrunners needed all those hits and runs because the Saints just wouldn’t go away in their debut. St. Dom’s pounded out 17 hits of its own. After falling behind 5-0 in the first, the Saints cut the lead to one run three times.

“The girls just didn’t give up,” said St. Dom’s coach Mike Murphy. “They kept putting the bat on the ball, and they slowly kept them to less runs. We just kept right at it. I couldn’t be more proud of them right now.”

Bethany Fox led the Saints (0-1) with four hits and three RBI while Mary Caron had three hits, including two homers and five RBI.

Mt. Abram opened the 5-0 lead in the top of the first. Taylor belted a two-run homer and two runs scored on passed balls to put the Roadrunners ahead early. St. Dom’s came right back and got within 5-4 thanks to a three-run homer by Fox in the bottom of the inning.

Sam Werzanski singled in a run and Taylor doubled in a pair in the second for an 8-4 lead. Then Kayce Davenport singled in two and Katie Jordan singled in a run and scored on an error for the 12-4 lead.

Howard left the game after three with a 12-6 lead. Mt. Abram made it 14-6 in the fourth with a Taylor Jordan RBI single and a Howard RBI double. Taylor Jordan came on in relief but couldn’t silence the Saints bats.

St. Dom’s scored five in the bottom or the fourth. Caron had a two-run homer and Fox singled in a run during that rally. The Saints were within 14-11. After Mt. Abram got a run in the top of the fifth, Caron hit her second two-run homer and Fox scored on a wild pitch to make it 15-14 in the bottom of the fifth.

Mt. Abram continued to hit and padded the lead to 18-14 in the sixth. A Hattie Rosenburg fielder’s choice scored a run. Then Jill Howard singled and a run scored on an error in the outfield. Then Taylor singled in a run for the four-run lead.

“They’re a good hitting team,” said Murphy. “They hit a lot of gaps. They put it in places. They were really good placing the ball out there.”

The Saints got runners on in the sixth against Jordan, and Howard returned to the game. Caron scored a run with a grounder and Fox singled in another to get within 18-17. With the tying run at third, Howard got a strike out to end the inning.

“We’re trying to find out our pitching rotation,” said McCafferty. “Taylor’s been working hard all winter. We’re trying to work her into the rotation. I wanted to hang onto this one. So I wanted to get Alix back in there, and she came through for us.”

The Roadrunners bats gave her some breathing room. Howard had a two-run singled to lead a four-run seventh, opening a 22-17 lead.  That chased St. Dom’s freshman starter Sam Ladd. Though the Saints got one back on an error in the seventh, Howard got a pair of strike outs to end the game.

“To get those hits, it felt really good, and I didn’t have that much pressure on me” said Howard. “We’re a good hitting team and have a lot of good hitters.”

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