FLORENCE, Ala. – Alabama Head Coach Patrick Murphy earned his 1,300th win as head coach of the Crimson Tide Wednesday night, rallying in the seventh inning to defeat North Alabama, 4-2.
Murphy is the seventh Division-I coach to earn 1,300 wins at one program and the first to do so entirely within the Southeastern Conference.
Alabama (23-12) trailed North Alabama (22-10) after a sac fly and an RBI single put the Lions up 2-0 in the third inning. The Tide put runners on base in the fourth and fifth innings but could not break into the run column as UNA took the two-run lead into the seventh. Alabama started the seventh inning with back-to-back singles and, two batters later with one out, a forceout at third went for out number two but the throw attempt to first went wide, allowing a run to score on the error and continue the inning. Lauren Johnson came through in the next at-bat with a game-tying RBI single. Two batters later with the bases loaded, another error brought home the go-ahead run and Kendal Clark added some insurance with an RBI single to make it 4-2. UNA brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom half with one out, but Jocelyn Briski (10-8) got back-to-back strikeouts to secure the win.
From Head Coach Patrick Murphy
“To win 1,300 games at one place, it’s all about the people - the players first, the coaches, the staff, the fans, administration. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to live and work for the last 29 years. We were hitting the ball right at people today and we left a lot of people on base. We weren’t striking out, so we were putting the ball in play but it was just right at people. I told the team we have to make our own luck and finally in the seventh I think we got a little bit of that luck going our way. Baseball and softball are games of averages and today was one of those days where it went in our favor.â€
Coaches with 1,300 Wins at One NCAA DIvision-I Program
Carol Hutchins – Michigan (1985-2022) – 1,684
Mike Candrea – Arizona (1986-2003, 2005-07, 2009-21) – 1,674
Patty Gasso – Oklahoma (1995-present) – 1,534
Donna Papa – North Carolina (1986-2023) – 1,339
Diane Ninemire – California (1988-2020) – 1,355
Eugene Lenti – DePaul (1980-87, 1990-2018) – 1,326
Patrick Murphy – Alabama (1999-pres.) – 1,300
Highlights
Kali Hevilin was 4-for-4 at the plate, her first career four-hit game and fifth multi-hit game of the season
Salen Hawkins was 2-for-4, extending her hitting streak to five games including a pair of two-hit efforts over that stretch
Eight different Crimson Tide players had a hit in the game
Scoring Summary: Alabama 4, UNA 2
B3 | Hailey Jones drove in a run on a sac fly RBI (0-1, 1 Out)
B3 | Laura Leigh Wheeler hit a two-out RBI single (0-2, 2 Out)
T7 | A Tide runner scored on a throwing error (1-2, 1 Out)
T7 | Lauren Johnson tied the game with an RBI single (2-2, 2 Out)
T7 | A two-out fielding error extended the inning and plated an unearned run (3-2, 2 Out)
T7 | Kendal Clark added some insurance with an RBI single (4-2, 2 Out)
Up Next: vs. No. 15/17 Georgia (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
Friday, March 28 – 6 p.m. CT
Saturday, March 29 – 2 p.m. CT
Sunday, March 30 – 11 a.m. CT – ESPN2
