MT. PLEASANT, SC— Winthrop softball fell 6-1 to Bowling Green on the opening day of the Cougar Classic hosted by the College of Charleston at Patriots Point.

The loss is the third straight for the Eagles as they fall to 4-7 on the year and Bowling Green improves to 4-1.

"We made three mistakes that led to their big inning," said Winthrop head coach Mark Cooke. "Defense and missed assignments led to their six runs. Dallas (King) probably threw one of the best games she's thrown in a while. She did a good job of getting on top of the hitters. Third straight games we've given up in the first inning because of mistakes and we have to get rid of those."

The Eagles took 1-0 lead in the top of the first as sophomore Maddie Antone extended her hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI single up the middle that scored sophomore Paige Haley from second base.

In the bottom of the first the Falcons responded with six runs on six hits, which were all the runs they needed. The inning got started as Winthrop starting pitcher Sara Allen issued a lead-off walk. That was followed by a single through the hole at short and an infield single to third to load the bases. Allen dug deep and struck the next better out to try and get out of the jam. On the following batter she threw a wild pitch that moved all the runners over to tie the game at 1-1.

It went to 3-1 when Morgan Evangelista singled up the middle to score Trista Mikienko and Marina Cobbs. The next three runs came with two outs as Emily McClelland delivered a two-RBI single before Allen was replaced in the circle by King, who got what looked like the third out when Molly Holliday grounded out but a delayed illegal pitch call by the umpire gave Holliday new life and she squeezed a shot over third base for an RBI double to make it 6-1.

Following the six-run first, the Falcons had just two batters reach base the rest of the way (a walk in the second and a double in the fifth as King tossed 5.1 innings of relief allowing two hits with one walk and tying a career-high with eight strikeouts. Allen suffered the loss as she falls to 3-3 after allowing six runs on five hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Winthrop threatened in the third inning as Zharne Glover reached on a fielder's choice and Antone was hit-by-a-pitch to put runners on first and second with one out. Kelsey Ritter hit a grounder to short that led to Glover getting out at third and then Young grounded out to end the inning.

With one out in the fifth inning, Glover singled up the middle and Antone was hit again to put runners at first and second with one out. Ritter flied out to center and Young popped out to second to end the threat.

Winthrop left a total of eight runners stranded and hit into five fielder's choices that got the lead runner out at second or third.

Antone finished the day 1-for-2 as she was hit twice and freshman Tara Loken went 2-for-3.

Jamie Kertes earned the win in the circle for the Falcons as she tossed 4.2 innings allowing one run on five hits with a walk and a strikeout.