GERMANTOWN, Md. - The No. 18 Harford baseball team (30-7, 17-2 MD JUCO) exploded for 17 runs in game two to salvage a split with Montgomery (19-8, 8-3 MD JUCO) on Wednesday. The Fighting Owls dropped the opener, 4-2, but never trailed in the nightcap in the 17-4 victory.

The nation's No. 2 hitter, Ben Bomberger, went 4-for-5 on the day with two home runs, including his second career grand slam, to up his batting average this season to .535 (38-for-71). During his current eight-game hitting streak, the freshman is hitting .731 (19-for-26) with five home runs, three doubles, one triple, 19 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

The win in game two marked the fastest a Harford team has reached the 30-win mark in school history. The 37 games is one better than the 38 games it took the 2012 team to reach 30, and that team finished with a school-record 45 victories.

In the opener, Bomberger led off the top of the third inning with a home run to break a scoreless tie. Later in the frame, Brandon Smith doubled home Jack Hamner for a 2-0 lead, but the Fighting Owls left a pair in scoring position and was held off the scoreboard for the final four innings. The Raptors tied it with three two-out hits in the bottom of the frame and scratched across two more in the fifth for the win.

Montgomery's Antonio Pino earned the four-out save striking out three of the four batters he faced to preserve the win for Dillon Swanger. Harford's John Hetterman took the loss, falling to 3-2 on the season.

In the nightcap, five Fighting Owls recorded multiple-hit games including Smith and Joe Sheeran's three-hit performances. Smith connected on a first-inning home run, one of three longballs for Harford in the win.

Smith's round-tripper was his fourth of the season, Tanner Forry connected for his seventh of the year, tied for third on the team, and Bomberger's grand slam was his sixth homer this year.

Dalton Reed (6-0) earned his team-best sixth win of the season, tossing six innings and allowing three earned runs on nine hits while striking out three and walking none.

The first-place Fighting Owls host CCBC Catonsville on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.