BEL AIR, Md. - The Harford softball team (19-6) halted a four-game losing streak with a Friday split against Burlington (8-14). The Fighting Owls used an eight-run fourth inning in game two to knock out the Barons.

Burlington 7, Harford 2
Ace freshman Desi Joines was not as sharp as Fighting Owl fans have been accustomed to seeing and took the loss in the opener. Joines fell to 11-3 on the season, allowing seven runs, three earned, while striking out a dozen. She allowed her first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the first inning to the Baron cleanup hitter.

The Fighting Owls were held scoreless through the first six innings, but Lindsey Fenner's first career home run, a two-run blast in the final inning, made sure they weren't shutout for the third consecutive game.

Harford 10, Burlington 4
The Fighting Owls received a much-needed solid start from freshman Katie Shultz, but the eight-run fourth inning catapulted the team out of its funk and into the win column.

Shultz tossed her best game in quite some time, working in and out of jams between a pair of clean innings. She scattered seven hits and allowed four runs, two earned, with six strikeouts. She also connected on her first career home run to left field in the big frame.

After a 1-2-3 top of the fourth, the Fighting Owls got things going offensively trailing 3-1. Shultz started things off with an opposite field single and Fenner followed with a double, scoring a run on a throwing error. Fenner advanced to third on that error, and the Barons decided to have a mound meeting. On the next pitch, Julia Sanders executed a perfect squeeze bunt and was safe on the play, knotting the game at 3-3.

Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Bethanie Cook plated Sanders with a sacrifice fly to left. Joines singled home Brittany Fleming before Fabiana Della-Monica put things out of reach with a three-run blast to left field. Shultz's homer was of the back-to-back variety, and the Fighting Owls were in business.

Harford hosts Anne Arundel on Saturday at noon for a rescheduled conference doubleheader.