Fort Wayne got offensive in its convincing 9-4 Midwest League victory over South Bend on Sunday at Parkview Field.
TinCap Jace Peterson led the onslaught with four hits and a pair of RBIs, while teammates Yeison Asencio and Donavan Tate also each knocked in two runs.
Tate's big hit was his initial home run of the 2012 season.
South Bend (32-21) jumped out to an early advantage against Fort Wayne's Ruben Mejia in the first inning. The right-hander allowed both Chris Ellison and Tom Belza to reach base to begin the game, and the duo scored three batters later on a two-run single from Fidel Pena.
Fort Wayne (29-34) fell behind 3-0 in the top of the third, when Mejia allowed two hits and issued a walk, loading the bases. James Jones (1-0) entered in relief, and allowed one run on a sacrifice fly, but emerged otherwise unscathed. James worked three scoreless innings behind Mejia.
The TinCaps plated two runs in the bottom of the third against Silver Hawks starter Archie Bradley (6-4). The 19-year-old, selected seventh overall by the Diamondbacks in 2011, surrendered an RBI double to Peterson and then an RBI ground out to Casey McElroy. Fort Wayne trailed 3-2 into the fifth, when it scored twice more, knocking Bradley from the game and taking a 4-3 lead.
Tate's home run was a two-run shot in the sixth inning, which extended the Fort Wayne advantage to 6-3. It was his first home run of the season, the third of his career and his first long ball since July 20, 2010 as a member of the Arizona League Padres. Tate had gone 92 games and 348 at-bats without hitting a home run. It was also his fourth extra-base hit of the year.
Fort Wayne added one run in the seventh and two in the eighth, leading by as many as six runs. Johnny Barbato worked the ninth, allowing one run.
