South Bend jumped on Fort Wayne early and often as it dominated the TinCaps 10-2 in Midwest League action at Covaleski Stadium on Monday.
The victory completed a sweep by the Silver Hawks over the offensively-anemic TinCaps.
One night after mustering just a pair of hits in the initial eight innings, Fort Wayne's offense and pitching on Monday struggled from the outset.
South Bend scored six runs in the first three innings, and the onslaught began immediately. The Silver Hawks (10-8 second half, 45-43) put two runs on the board in their first at-bat off TinCaps starter Ruben Mejia (1-4). Following a game-opening strikeout of South Bend's Chris Ellison, Mejia allowed three consecutive base hits. The third of those was a two-run double by first baseman Matt Helm.
The Silver Hawks added another run in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by shortstop Raul Navarro.
Leading 3-0 in the third inning, South Bend continued to score as Eric Groff hit his first home run of the season; a three-run shot that extended the lead to 6-0.
Mejia's outing came to an end after that hit, marking the second time this year Mejia has failed to make it out of the third inning in a start against the Silver Hawks.
Fort Wayne (10-8, 41-47) scored its first run in the fifth inning against starter Alex Capaul (1-1). The right-hander plunked Tyler Stubblefield, who was leading off the inning. Kyle Gaedele followed with an RBI double off the center- field wall, scoring Stubblefield and making the score 6-1. Capaul, who had struck out one batter in 11 2/3 innings prior to Monday, struck out six batters in five innings of work.
TinCaps reliever James Jones allowed a run in the fifth, allowing the Silver Hawks to extend their advantage to 7-1. Three runs scored against James Needy in the nine-batter sixth inning, as he was touched up for three hits in the inning and also hit two batters. Austin Hedges hit a seventh-inning solo home run, pulling the final margin to 10-2.
