Junior Frank Gonzalez controlled the Chicago State bats throughout his five-inning stint to raise his record to 2-0. He allowed five hits - all signles, struck out six and did not walk a batter. (Danny Kambel photo)

MIAMI - A season-high ten stolen bases and a dominant performance by junior Frank Gonzalez out of the FIU bullpen sparked the Golden Panthers to a 9-3 win over Chicago State on Sunday afternoon at University Park.

The Golden Panthers raise their record to 9-5 with the win; meanwhile, the Cougars fall to 0-14. For FIU, Gonzalez entered the game in the top of the fifth in relief of starter junior Jon Banke, who pitched the first four innings.

Gonzalez controlled the Chicago State bats throughout his five-inning stint to raise his record to 2-0. In addition, all five hits that Gonzalez allowed were singles, he struck out six and did not walk a batter. Jaguars’ starter Chris Freshour went seven innings, allowing seven hits and gave up five runs – all earned, walked three and struck out three in a losing cause.

FIU posted an 11-hit attack against three Cougars’ pitchers as the top three in the order - senior Dennis Diaz, junior Michael Lopez and redshirt sophomore Nick Cadena paced the attack with two hits apiece. The Golden Panthers swiped ten bases in the win off the Cougars, including three from Diaz and two by Cadena. For Chicago State, first baseman Andy Paszko posted a game-high three hits.

Chicago State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning without recording a hit. FIU trimmed the margin to 2-1 in the bottom half of the inning on a team-leading eighth double by Lopez. Chicago State nearly added to its lead in the third on a fly ball by Raven Jackson; however, redshirt sophomore Chris Dunn reached over the right-field fence for the inning-ending catch. However, CSU did extend its lead in the fourth on a RBI double by Paszko to give the Cougars a 3-1 advantage.

Freshman Corey Lozano in only his fifth start delivered the game-winning, two-RBI double to left field to spark the Golden Panthers to a 9-3 win on Sunday. (Danny Kambel photo)

The lead was short lived as FIU came back to score three in the bottom half of the inning. Back-to-back singles by Lopez and Cadena; in addition, the duo executed a double steal to put runners on second and third for Jeff Skellenger. The senior walked to load the bases for Dunn. The speedster reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Lopez to cut the Cougars’ lead to 3-2. With freshman Corey Lozano, at the plate, Dunn stole the team’s third base of the inning to put runners on second and third. The rookie second baseman delivered a double to right field, scoring Cadena and Dunn to give FIU a 4-3 lead. The Golden Panthers would steal two more bases in the inning; however, no more runs would cross the plate.

In the seventh, FIU stretched its lead to 5-3 on a sacrifice fly by freshman James McOwen. They stretched the lead to 9-3 in the eighth with four more runs. In the inning, the Golden Panthers got a RBI double from junior pinch hitter Yahmed Yema, a two-RBI single by Luis Rivera and a RBI single from Diaz.

Next up for the Golden Panthers is a 7 p.m. tilt on Monday against Wagner. Scheduled to pitch for FIU is freshman Elih Villanueva, who enters the contest with a 3-1 mark and a 1.82 ERA..