Southeast Missouri State softball coach Lana Richmond insists the Redhawks aren't fazed by their 10-game losing streak to end the regular season.

In fact, Richmond believes the Redhawks will enter the six-team Ohio Valley Conference tournament that begins today with plenty of confidence as each squad chases the league's automatic NCAA berth.

"I don't think they're down at all," Richmond said. "The way we're looking at it is, everybody has a clean slate. I feel like we've been with every team in the conference.

"The last time we went to the NCAA tournament was in 1999. I think this is our best shot since then."

Fifth-seeded Southeast (27-22, 14-13 OVC) will play fourth-seeded Tennessee-Martin (35-24-1, 15-12) at 10 a.m. today in Cookeville, Tenn.

The winner advances to a 2:30 p.m. semifinal against host and top-seeded Tennessee Tech (47-13, 24-2), which received a first-round bye. The loser plays an elimination game at 12:15 p.m. Friday.

Today's other opening-round contest features No. 3 Eastern Illinois (34-24-1, 16-11) against No. 6 Eastern Kentucky (30-27, 13-13), with that winner meeting No. 2 Jacksonville State (42-13, 21-5).

The championship game of the double-elimination event is set for 12:15 p.m. Saturday.

Southeast is just 5-10 against the other five teams in the tournament, but Richmond said the Redhawks competed well enough against the league's top squads to give them hope.

The Redhawks were swept in three-game series by both regular-season champion Tennessee Tech and runner-up Jacksonville State. Two of the losses to Tennessee Tech were by one run, and two of the losses to Jacksonville State were by one and two runs.

"We've only failed to beat two teams, and we had really close games with both of them," Richmond said. "I think one of the reasons the players do have confidence is because of the performance they had at Tennessee Tech two weeks ago. We were right there in two games."

Southeast captured a tight three-game series with today's opponent, Tennessee-Martin, losing the opener 2-1 before recovering for 2-1 and 3-1 victories.

"They're a solid team and we had a really good three games with them," Richmond said.

The Redhawks led the OVC in hitting for most of the season, but a slump that coincided with their 10-game losing streak has dropped them into the No. 3 spot at .278.

"We faced a lot better pitching the last few weeks, but we know we can hit a lot better than we have been," Richmond said. "We haven't been coming up with the timely hits."

Southeast's earned run average of 2.83 is seventh among 10 OVC teams. Richmond believes primary starters Elaine Fisher (12-15, 1.92) and Stephanie Huffman (13-7, 3.75) hold the key to the Redhawks' chances in the tournament.

"I think our hitting and defense will be there," Richmond said. "The key for us is if they can give us the pitching."

Tennessee-Martin is fifth in the conference in hitting (.255) and third in ERA (2.20).