Patrick Murphy Reaches Milestone as No. 3 Alabama Softball Secures Series at Auburn

It's always fun to beat your rival, but it's even more special when you reach a career milestone.

Longtime Alabama softball head coach became the first coach in conference history to record 500 SEC wins as the No. 3 Crimson Tide beat Auburn 4-0 at Jane B. Moore Field on Saturday.

"This is the 30th year of Alabama softball and the coolest part about it is that I’ve been here from day one, two years as an assistant and 28 as the head coach," Murphy said in a press release. "I know every young woman who has played here, I know their families, I know what they’re doing now, where they’re working, the whole thing. It’s one of the biggest blessings of my life.”

Congrats on 5⃣0⃣0⃣ Murph!@UACoachMurphy #Team30 #RollTide | @tmobile pic.twitter.com/HAy2dxDjLM
— Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB) April 11, 2026

Murphy has set many milestones for Alabama and the SEC as a whole, bringing back the first national title to the conference in 2012. He has won six SEC regular season crowns and six SEC tournament titles with the Crimson Tide. Murphy has taken Alabama to the Women's College World Series 15 times.

Freshman Vic Moten was brilliant in the circle against the Tigers with a one-hit shutout, striking out five. It was just the third seven-inning complete game for Moten this season as Alabama shut out Auburn for the second game in a row. She is now 15-2 on the year with her ERA down to 1.53.

Brooke Wells is continuing to put together one of the best power-hitting seasons in Alabama program history with her 17th home run of the year on Saturday, which gave the Crimson Tide a two-run lead in the third inning.

Brooke Bomb 1️⃣7️⃣💣#Team30 #RollTide | @TMobile pic.twitter.com/CF0pwhJG8a
— Alabama Softball (@AlabamaSB) April 11, 2026

Jena Young got the scoring started with a two-out RBI in the second inning to make sure Alabama didn't waste a leadoff double from freshman Ambrey Taylor. That wasn't all from Taylor. She helped add some insurance runs for the Crimson Tide in the seventh inning with an RBI single of her own. Taylor came around to score on a ball off the bat of Larissa Preuitt back to the pitcher that led to an error.

Alabama (38-3, 11-3 SEC) has now won its first five conference series for the first time since 2014 and will be going for the rivalry series sweep over Auburn (23-18, 2-12 SEC) on Sunday at 1 p.m.

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