South Bend Cubs open 12-game homestand with win over Fort Wayne

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The South Bend Cubs opened a 12-game homestand Tuesday night with a 6-4 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps. The Cubs entered the matchup coming off a roller-coaster six-game series against Dayton, where the Cubs split the series 3-3. But on Tuesday, they started fresh behind a strong outing from right-hander Kenten Egbert and a three-hit night from Christian Olivo.

Egbert made his first start of the season and gave South Bend three scoreless innings, helping the Cubs settle in early. South Bend then scored first in the bottom of the third inning with Kane Kepley leading off with a double before Kade Snell brought him home with a sacrifice fly, giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Fort Wayne tied the game in the fourth on a solo home run from Alex McCoy, but South Bend answered right back. Justin Stransky doubled and later scored on a bases-loaded walk from Cole Mathis to put the Cubs back in front.

From there, South Bend kept adding on. Cameron Sisneros opened the fifth with a solo home run, his third of the season. Christian Olivo followed later in the inning with an RBI double, part of a three-hit night for the Cubs infielder. It was Olivo’s first three-hit performance since 2024.

Even after Fort Wayne made it close late, South Bend found enough cushion to finish the job. An RBI single and a TinCaps balk helped the Cubs extend the lead before they held on in the ninth.

Cubs manager Nick Brown said the biggest difference was execution.

“It’s just about execution,” Brown said. “Our pitchers getting ahead, executing two-strike put-away pitches. When we fall behind in counts, Dayton took advantage of it. We’ve got to play better defense behind the pitchers when they put the ball in play, and tonight we did that. We played really good defense, pitched really well and got ahead.”

The Cubs continue the series against Fort Wayne on Wednesday with an 11 a.m. first pitch at Four Winds Field. The series continues Thursday at 7 p.m.