The Fredericksburg Nationals (0-10) saw their season-opening skid reach ten games on Friday night, as the Delmarva Shorebirds (7-3) preserved an early lead en route to a 6-1 victory.
The Shorebirds pounced on Fredericksburg starter Rodney Theophile (L, 0-1) right away, forcing the young righty from the game after throwing 36 pitches to seven batters and recording only one out. Three runs scored on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, a fielder’s choice and a walk, giving Delmarva starter Noah Denoyer a sizable lead before he threw a pitch.
Fredericksburg’s lone run came in the third, when J.T. Arruda sent a liner over the left-center field wall for his first professional home run. Amos Willingham tossed 3.2 innings of scoreless relief to keep the FredNats in the ballgame, but his offense couldn’t produce any more threats against another strong performance from the Shorebirds pitching corps.
After four innings, Denoyer was relieved by Xavier Moore (W, 1-1). The righty faced the minimum over 4.0 scoreless innings of relief, striking out seven and allowing his offense to stretch out the lead. Gunnar Henderson added a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly, and Jordan Westburg hit a two-run homer in the ninth to bring the game to its final score of 6-1.
The FredNats continue their series against the Shorebirds on Saturday as RHP Leif Strom faces off against Delmarva’s RHP Mike Baumann.
