Daytona Beach, Fla. – The last time Chris Gonzalez went to the mound for Stetson, last Friday against UMBC, the results were not what he, or Hatters fans, have become accustomed to from the junior left-hander.
 
Tuesday night proved that outing was just an aberration. Gonzalez earned his first win of the 2020 season with a dominating performance against Bethune-Cookman at Jackie Robinson Ballpark, leading the Hatters to a 5-0 victory.
 
Junior Nick DiPonzio was the offensive catalyst for the Hatters, getting three of Stetson's five hits and driving in four of the five runs.
 
Stetson improved to 9-2 on the year with the victory while the Wildcats fell to 5-8.
 
Gonzalez (1-2), coming off the shortest start in his Stetson career, threw a three-hit shutout on Tuesday, posting a career-high 13 strikeouts. He faced just three batters over the minimum, and allowed just one base-runner past second base. That runner reached on the only Stetson error in the game and was left stranded at third.
 
Gonzalez had at least one strikeout in every inning and had retired 17 straight before Josten Heron singled to left with two out in the ninth. Heron got greedy and tried to stretch the hit into a double, but was easily thrown out by Mark Townsend to end the game. Gonzalez needed just 106 pitches to finish the game.
 
Three of the five runs the Hatters scored in the game, off Wildcats' starter Nolan Santos (0-1) were unearned, the product of five Cookman errors. Former Wildcat turned Hatter Giovany Lorenzo got the first hit of the game for Stetson and, after an error extended the inning, scored on the first DiPonzio single.
 
It was senior Jonathan Meola, back in the lineup after missing the last five games, who reached on an error in the sixth to give the Hatters a chance to add on. Meola stole second and went to third on a throwing error by the Cookman catcher before scoring on an Eric Foggo single. DiPonzio followed up with a bloop double to shallow right, scoring Foggo all the way from first.
 
The Hatters added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning off Cookman reliever Jordan Pinto. Lorenzo and Meola both reached on one-out hits and then scored on a single to center by DiPonzio.
 
Stetson will be back in action on Friday when the Hatters host Ohio State (3-6) on the first day of the Stetson Invitational. The defending Big Ten tournament champions will be joined in the tournament by Fairfield (0-6) and Harvard (0-3). The Stags and Crimson will get play started in the tournament on Friday at 12:30 p.m.
 
On Saturday, Ohio State will square off against Harvard at 12:30 with Stetson slated to face Fairfield in the evening game. Sunday will pit the Hatters against Harvard at 1 p.m. with Ohio State and Fairfield squaring off at 7 p.m.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.