WATERLOO, Iowa – The Waterloo Bucks pounced on starter Brian Kroll, scoring seven runs in the opening three innings, and went on to an 8-5 victory over the Madison Mallards Tuesday night in a season-opening Northwoods League baseball game.

The game, watched by 2,096 at Riverfront Stadium, was the first for Mallards manager Darrell Handelsman, who was the Bucks’ manager for the past four years.

Kroll (0-1), who plays at Chico State, allowed seven runs – six earned – on seven hits in 2 innings before being replaced by Chris Maliszewski.

Madison relievers allowed just one run on two hits, and the Mallards got back into the game with a five-run fourth inning. Doug Beck, Francois Larmore, Sean Alexander, Mike Rohde and Matt Musser all drove in runs in the rally.

Beck, a Texas Tech athlete, went 2-for-4 for Madison.