By Mike Monaco

SOUTH BEND – An early wave of Whitecaps offense stymied South Bend, as West Michigan evened the series at a game apiece with a 10-5 win Sunday afternoon at Four Winds Field.

The Whitecaps (15-8 second half, 48-44 overall) scored pairs of runs in the second, third and fourth innings and four more in the ninth to claim the middle game from the Cubs (13-11 second half, 42-49 overall), who won Saturday’s series opener.

South Bend starter Trevor Clifton departed after 2.1 innings, leaving after Cubs manager Jimmy Gonzalez and trainer Jonathan Fierro visited the mound. Rushed into action, righty Daniel Lewis allowed one earned run in 2.2 innings from the bullpen. Left-hander Sam Wilson sparkled in three innings of relief before allowing four runs in the ninth.

Cubs center fielder Rashad Crawford supplied the bulk of South Bend’s scoring with a two-run home run – his second long ball of the season – an RBI groundout and an RBI triple. Whitecaps starter Jeff Thompson dealt six strong innings, surrendering just five hits and the two runs on Crawford’s blast.

South Bend shortstop Gleyber Torres (2-for-5, one double, one single) collected his fourth consecutive multi-hit game and his 33rd overall.

The Whitecaps grabbed a run in the top of the second, as third baseman Zach Shepherd launched a sacrifice fly to deep left-center field, and second baseman Joey Pankake, who reached on an error, scored from third. Catcher Arvicent Perez then knocked an RBI single to right field to push West Michigan ahead 2-0.

In the top of the third, Whitecaps right fielder Mike Gerber destroyed a two-run home run off the South Bend Cubs Performance Center well beyond the right-field wall, lifting West Michigan up, 4-0.

In the fourth, Whitecaps center fielder Rashad Brown laced an RBI single to right field that scored two runs as South Bend aimed for the final out in between first and second.

The Cubs climbed on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Crawford crushed a two-run shot to deep right-center field, pulling South Bend within four, 6-2.

The Cubs loaded the bases for Crawford in the last of the seventh, and he bounced into a forceout but did score Vimael Machin from third, trimming the gap to 6-3.

Gerber rapped a two-run triple in the ninth to extend the lead to five, 8-3. Cleanup man Christin Stewart added a two-run shot to chase Wilson.

In the bottom of the ninth, Crawford tallied a two-out RBI triple to score catcher Erick Castillo. Crawford then touched to make it 10-5 on a bloop RBI single by right fielder Jeffrey Baez.

South Bend and West Michigan wrap up their three-game series Monday at 1:05 p.m. ET at Four Winds Field. Cubs right-hander Zach Hedges (3.64 ERA) is scheduled to oppose Whitecaps righty Fernando Perez (4.22 ERA).