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.”
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
