BEL AIR, Md. - The No. 12 Harford baseball team (40-10) swept Brookdale (24-20) on Wednesday for its 40th win of the season. The Fighting Owls won the opener 7-5 and game two under the lights, 8-4.

Harford reached the 40-win mark for the third time in school history. Head coach Tom Eller led the Fighting Owls to 44 wins in 2011 and a school-record 45 victories in 2012. In 2012, the Fighting Owls were ranked as high as No. 16 in the NJCAA Division I Coaches Poll. This week's poll saw Harford at No. 12, the highest in program history.

Harford 7, Brookdale 5
Freshman Colby Dean slugged a three-run home run in the second inning to give classmate Josh Houser some cushion. Houser improved to 5-1, striking out four in 4.2 innings of work. Sophomore Austin Griffie entered the game in a jam in the fifth, pitched out of it and earned his first save of the season.

Brett Hash, Chase Demars and Jamal Clarke each totaled two hits and five different players recorded an RBI in the win. Clarke tripled home leadoff hitter Ben Bomberger to start the scoring in the bottom of the first.

Harford 8, Brookdale 4
Hash tied the school record with his 14th home run of the season, a two-run shot over the left-field wall to break a 1-1 tie in the third inning. Hash's home run tied him with teammate John Mastrangelo for the single-season record.

Harford scored four unearned runs in the sixth to break open a 4-3 game. A two-run bloop single by Hash was the back-breaker, giving him four RBIs on the evening.

Hash, Demars and Clarke again led the way with two hits each.

Alex Brown improved to 2-0 scattering three runs on five hits in 4.1 innings of work. Michael Hanafin and John Mastrangelo both allowed just one hit in relief.

The Fighting Owls host a pair of doubleheaders over the weekend in preparation for next weekend's NJCAA Region XX Tournament in Keyser, W. Va. Saturday's DH against Mercer County starts at noon.