Tide's Patrick Murphy Becomes Seventh Coach To Reach 1,300 Wins

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Alabama softball head coach Patrick Murphy made history Wednesday night by securing his 1,300th win by way of a 4-2 comeback victory over North Alabama at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.

“To win 1,300 games at one place, it’s all about the people — the players first, the coaches, the staff, the fans, the administration,” Murphy said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better place to live and work for the last 29 years."

This makes Murphy the seventh Division-I coach in NCAA history to earn 1,300 career wins at one program, in addition to being the first to do so entirely within the Southeastern Conference.

He now trails longtime DePaul head coach Eugene Lenti, with 1,326 wins.

The Tide’s rally on Wednesday began with back-to-back singles to start the seventh inning before an errant throw allowed a run to score, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

Lauren Johnson then followed this up with an RBI single to tie the game. Another UNA error with the bases loaded also allowed the go-ahead run to cross the plate before Kendal Clark provided insurance with an RBI single to make it 4-2.

"We were hitting the ball right at people today and we left a lot of people on base," Murphy said. "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.”

Alabama will return to action when it hosts a three-game series against No. 9 Oklahoma this weekend.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com.