Niagara opened its baseball season with a 7-6 win over Coleman in M & O Conference action Thursday at Coleman.

The Badgers built a 7-2 lead before the Cougars battled back with a four-run sixth. Relief pitcher Dwight Hedmark got two outs to quiet the rally and then shut out Coleman in the seventh to earn the save.

Niagara’s Remington Buchanan worked 5 1/3 innings and gave up four earned runs to get the win. He struck out eight, while Hedmark fanned two.

The Badgers collected six hits, including a single and a double by Reid Schroeder. Owen Dunkes cracked a double and Buchanan, Noah Wheeler and JJ Wallace laced singles.