BEL AIR, Md. –The Harford baseball team fended off a furious comeback by CCBC Essex, winning 8-7 to move to 35-7 overall and 22-2 in the MD JUCO conference on a blustery Thursday night at Harford Sports Complex.
 
Alex Brown was stellar on the mound in his first start for the Fighting Owls. The freshman was perfect through 4 2/3 innings, keeping Knights hitters off balance with pinpoint control of his fastball and a big breaking curveball. He held Essex scoreless through six innings before losing his command in the seventh. His final line was three runs on two hits and two walks with five punchouts.
 
The Knights pushed Harford to the limit. They went down 6-0 following a four-run sixth inning by the Fighting Owls but answered back with four runs of their own in the seventh. Harford scored a run in the bottom of the seventh and Essex came back with a two-run eighth inning. The Knights forced Harford skipper Tom Eller to call upon James English to reprise his role as a late-inning reliever. English came on to secure a knife-edge, four-out save. It was only the second save opportunity of the season for a Harford pitcher. English did the job in roundabout fashion, allowing a run on three walks and three wild pitches. He used a nasty curveball to freeze Devin Hadley for a strikeout to end the game with the tying run on third base.
 
Harford was uncharacteristically stagnant on offense for most of the night but still managed to score eight runs. Brandon Smith went 3-for-4 with a walk, a run scored and what turned out to be the game-winning RBI in the eighth inning. He lined a single to the left center field gap to plate Jamal Clarke to give the Fighting Owls some much needed insurance. The sophomore third baseman has been a rock in the lineup for the Harford, coming up with big hits and excellent plays at the hot corner whenever his team has needed it.
 
Clarke made a pinch-hit appearance Saturday afternoon and started in centerfield Thursday evening for the first time since injuring his shoulder March 13^th against Mercyhurst. He lined a clutch two-out double to right-center in the bottom of the eighth and came around to score the game-winning run on Smith's RBI single. He went 1-for-5 on the day.
 
Lead-off hitter Jack Hamner went 2-for-5 with a run scored in the game. Hamner and Smith are both hitting for a .500 batting average, tied for third in the nation behind fellow Fighting Owl Ben Bomberger in second place (.543) and first place Garrett Benge (.558) from Cowley County Community College (Kan.).
 
The Fighting Owls will be off Friday before travelling to McHenry, Md. to face Garrett for a double-header to wrap up their MD JUCO slate. A sweep would secure an outright conference championship for Harford. First pitch is scheduled for noon.