FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (Interstat) — Carson Fischer threw six shutout innings and Juan Cruz and Eli Willits homered as the Fredricksburg Nationals defeated the Hickory Crawdads 8-1 on Friday night at Virginia Credit Union Stadium.

Fischer (1-0) allowed five hits and struck out three. Cruz went 2 for 4 with a three-run homer in the eighth inning. Willits hit a two-run shot in the fifth. Ryan Minckler struck out four over two scoreless innings.

Fredricksburg scored three runs in the fifth on Willits’ homer and a Rafael Ramirez Jr. double. Jordan Williams added a sacrifice fly in the sixth. The Nationals broke it open with four runs in the eighth, capped by Luke Dickerson’s RBI single.

Hickory (15-10) scored its lone run in the ninth on Luis Marquez’s RBI single. Evan Siary (0-1) took the loss, yielding four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.

The Nationals (18-7) outhit the Crawdads 11-7. Attendance was 3,506, and the game lasted 2 hours, 29 minutes.