Alabama Softball Head Coach Patrick Murphy Is Confident That Team Has 'Not Peaked Yet'

Murphy explains why you "don't ever count out Alabama" ahead of the SEC Tournament.

Jun 1, 2023; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Patrick Murphy looks on during / Brett Rojo-USA TODAY Sports

The Alabama Crimson Tide softball program earned the ninth seed in the upcoming Southeastern Conference Tournament after losing the season finale series to the Auburn Tigers. Alabama finishes the year 33-16 but was only able to muster a 10-14 conference record.

While this season has been subpar for Crimson Tide standards, Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy assured that the team is still aiming for all three phases to concurrently play their best softball.

"This is a year where we are going to remember the bigger picture in everything we do," Murphy said on SEC Network on Sunday evening. "This is a team that has not peaked yet—keyword 'yet'. We're still looking for our best game, we're still looking for our pitching, hitting and defense to come together—all three at once. We've had 2-out-of-3, 2.5-out-of-3, but I don't think we've had 3-out-of-3 yet."

Nevertheless, Murphy is aware that Alabama's softball season is nowhere near over and going 3-out-of-3 in games is still an achievable goal.

"The great thing about that, and I was telling them on the way home from Auburn on Saturday, was that this wasn't goodbye when we get off of the bus," Murphy said. "We have the SEC Tournament coming up, we're in the NCAA Tournament—I know that and every player on the team knows that. We're going to continue to work."

Murphy reminded fans that the Tide's record against the conference last season (14-10) also didn't meet people's standards, but that only gave Alabama more bulletin board material and motivation. Murphy has similar expectations this year, starting with the SEC Tournament opening game on Wednesday against the eight-seeded LSU Tigers.

"Last year, I don't think anyone gave us a shot in hell to do anything in the postseason, and we ended up in our 14th Women's College World Series," Murphy said. "Don't ever count out Alabama!"