South Bend's minor league baseball team has reached a major league attendance milestone.

The nearly 3,500 fans who attended Monday night's game at The Cove allowed the Silver Hawks to surpass their entire 2011 attendance total, and the season isn't even over yet.

All told, more than 115,000 fans have come through the turnstiles at Coveleski Stadium so far this year, through only 47 home dates.

New management, along with off-season stadium improvements designed to make The Cove more family friendly, are being credited for drawing the larger crowds.

“Behind me actually as you can see we are removing the aluminum style bleachers, kinda the final phase of the improvements this year,” says the President of the South Bend Silver Hawks Joe Hart. “So when folks come out the final home stand the aluminum bleachers will be gone and everyone that comes out will have a theatre style seat.”

The team didn't just hit an attendance home run Monday night, they also had a big win out on the field. The Silver Hawks beat the Fort Wayne Tin Caps 10-2, sweeping the series.