DES MOINES, Iowa - On Saturday, the No. 1 Southern Illinois University softball team (33-20, 21-5) lost a heartbreaker, 6-2, to No. 2 Belmont in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship.

The Salukis scored two runs on four hits with no errors on Saturday. On the other side, Belmont posted six runs with 10 hits and also did not commit an error.

Three different pitchers appeared for Southern Illinois in the championship game. Emma Gipson got the start and went 2.1 innings, while McKenzie Newcomb went four innings and Kiana McDowell went 0.2 after entering the game in the seventh.

Jackie Lis went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run, while Emily Williams went 2-for-3 against the Bruins.

Southern Illinois' Emma Gipson and Belmont's Maya Johnson were locked in a pitcher's duel through the opening two innings. Gipson started off the game with a 1-2-3 top of the first and then, after allowing a lead-off single, retired the following three Bruins to keep the score at 0-0.

In the top of the third, Belmont got on the board with a pair of solo home runs to start off the inning and make it 2-0 in favor of the Bruins.

With two outs in the top of the fourth, Belmont added on another run off of a single to go up, 3-0.

The Salukis answered back in the bottom of the inning as Jackie Lis hit a two-run home run to score Emma Austin and cut the deficit to 3-2. Lis' home run was her 11th of the season.

McKenzie Newcomb was sharp in the top of the fifth, firing a 1-2-3 inning before posting another scoreless frame in the top of the sixth.

Emily Williams singled through the left side with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but was left on base to keep the score at 3-2.

The Bruins were able to add three insurance runs in the following inning off of a three-run home run to take a 6-2 lead.

Southern was unable to answer back in the bottom of the seventh, falling by a final score of 6-2.