Mike Murphree begins his 12th season on the Gamecock staff for head coach Jim Case.
Murphree joined the Jacksonville State prior to the 2012 season after spending the previous two seasons at Gulf Coast Community College. While at Gulf Coast, he worked primarily with the hitters and also served as the Commodores recruiting coordinator, and helped the team to the 2010 Panhandle Conference Championship.
Jax State’s first season back in the ASUN saw the Gamecocks put together 19 wins in conference play and another trip to the postseason with a berth in the league’s conference tournament. The Gamecocks finished with 27 wins on the season, including road wins over Southern Miss and Auburn – two teams that advanced to the NCAA Super Regional round and the College World Series respectively.
JSU’s five all-conference selections led the 2022 club. Cole Frederick and Isaiah Magwood headlined the group as members of the All-ASUN First Team, while T.J. Reeves was tabbed to All-ASUN Second Team. Brennen Norton and AJ Causey earned spots on the league's All-Freshman Team. The five selections ranked third among the league teams.
JSU was one of the most consistent programs in the Ohio Valley Conference as far as offensive and defensive production. In 2021, the Gamecocks led the league with a .281 batting average in all games and a .289 mark in conference games. JSU accumulated over 500 hits, including 106 doubles and 52 home runs during the season. The Gamecocks also led the OVC defensively with a fielding clip of .973. JSU was slightly better in the field for the 30 OVC games with a .975 fielding percentage.
His ninth season (2020) with the program came to an abrupt halt after 15 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak around the world. The Gamecocks played 11 of its 15 games on its home turf of Rudy Abbott Field at Jim Case Stadium. JSU opened the 2019 season hosting Southeastern Conference foe Missouri in a three-game set along with home weekend sets with Central Michigan and Gardner-Webb. Jax State’s final game of the season was a 15-inning, 14-10 marathon win over Kennesaw State on the road.
The 2019 season will be noted as one of the historic seasons in the program’s history. The Gamecocks claimed both the regular season and tournament crowns en route to earning JSU’s fifth trip to an NCAA Regional. JSU put together a 39-win season, which is the most wins by the program in its NCAA Division I era. The 2019 club recorded the program’s first NCAA Division I Regional win with a 7-5 win over Big 10 foe Illinois to remain alive in the Oxford, Mississippi regional. After dispatching the Fighting Illini, the Gamecocks ousted Clemson to reach the regional championship round. By reaching the championship of the NCAA Oxford Regional, JSU was one of nine No. 4 seeds to advance to the title round since 2013 and the only one in 2019 edition of the NCAA Tournament and one of 32 teams left in the regional final round. The Gamecocks finished the season winning 14 of the final 16 games, including one of the longest winning streaks in NCAA Division I Baseball entering the regional round. The Gamecocks put together a 12-game winning streak before falling to the Rebels on Friday.
The 2018 season was the program’s 34th 30-plus wins campaign since the 1971 season and the 15th under Case. Jax State has now posted 30 or more wins in a season in 14 of the last 15 seasons. The Gamecocks fished 32-25 overall and 18-12 in OVC play. Jax State finished tied for third with Morehead State and has finished in the top-three in the league standings in 13 of the 15 seasons in the OVC.
One of the highlights of the 2018 campaign was the chase for the program’s all-time career hits record and the OVC’s record for hits in a career by Clayton Daniel. Daniel, entered his final season as a Gamecock with 247 career hits, 76 shy of the record, held by Bert Smith, who played for Case from 2006-2010. Daniel matched Smith’s career mark on the final day of the regular season against SIU Edwardsville on May 19. He broke the record on the same day with his second hit of the day. Daniel concluded his career with 330 hits, including 69 career doubles, which is also a new career standard at JSU and in the OVC.
Clayton Daniel became a four-time All-OVC selection following the 2018 season and was joined by All-OVC selections Trent Simpson and Garrett Farmer. JSU placed a league-best three on the All-OVC Freshman Team – Isaac Alexander, Cole Frederick and Christian Edwards. In 2017, Andrew Naismith collected postseason honors as a Freshman All-American honoree by Collegiate Baseball.
Alongside Evan Bush, the JSU offense blossomed in 2016 as it improved the average at the plate 17 points from 2015 to 2016. As a club, the Gamecocks finished the season hitting an Ohio Valley Conference best .313. The Gamecocks also ranked third in NCAA Division I baseball in total doubles with a program-record 145 doubles and finished the 2016 season as the NCAA statistical champion in doubles per game with 2.5 doubles per game. JSU had seven players to finish the 2016 season above the .300 mark at the dish, led by Clayton Daniel’s team-best .372 batting clip. The Gamecocks averaged 8.2 runs per game in 2016, which also led the OVC.
In 2013, the Gamecocks finished with a 32-26 overall record, and tied for third in the OVC with a 22-8 record and advanced to the OVC Championship for the tenth straight year. As a matter of fact, JSU has advanced to the six-team Tournament every year since joining the league in 2004.
The 2014 season, more specifically the Gamecocks’ run in the OVC Tournament, will go down as one of the most memorable experiences in the program’s decorated history. JSU became the first team in OVC history to win six-straight elimination games to win the OVC Conference Championship in Jackson, Tennessee. After losing in the opening round to fall in the elimination bracket, JSU reeled off six straight wins – the longest winning streak of the season – to eliminate every single team in the 2014 tournament and claim the school’s fourth OVC Championship. Jax State placed five on the 2014 All-OVC squads, led by Travis Stout and Eddie-Mora-Loera being tabbed to the First Team. Paschal Petrongolo, Andrew Bishop and Griff Gordon earned spots on the All-OVC Second Team. JSU finished the season at 36-27 overall and finished tied for second in the OVC at 18-12.
For the first time in the school’s Division I history, the Gamecocks placed two players on the Louisville Slugger All-American Team. Sophomore relief pitcher Travis Stout set the JSU single-season record for saves in a season with 17 and also set the school’s Division I record for earned run average in a single season at 1.42. Michael Bishop also earned All-American honors after finishing the season with a .340 average. He also led the team in doubles (21), triples (4), home runs (4) and a .539 slugging percentage.
Additionally, junior utility player Coty Blanchard was the second player drafted in the OVC after the Rays selected him in the 15th round of the Major League Baseball draft.
The 2012 Gamecocks finished with a 17-10 OVC record and earned the No. 3 seed into the Conference Tournament, posting a 2-2 record before losing to eventual champion Austin Peay. Senior reliever Todd Hornsby set the school and OVC career records with 33 saves and was named second-team All-OVC. Senior first baseman Ben Waldrip and senior outfielder Kyle Bluestein each were named to the first-team All-OVC, while Travis Stout was named to the All-Freshman squad.
Additionally, three Gamecocks were taken in the Major League Baseball Draft, including Ben Waldrip (10th /Colorado Rockie), Sam Eberle (25th round/San Francisco Giants) and Daniel Watts (32nd round/Arizona Diamondbacks).
Murphree coached at Troy from 2003-06, where he worked with the infielders and hitters. The Trojans won the 2005 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship with a 37-21 record, and the 2006 Sun Belt Conference Championship after going 47-16.
He then spent one year as an assistant at Northwest-Shoals Community College, where he was the recruiting coordinator while coaching the hitters and infielders, and assisting with the pitchers and catchers. Murphree, 32, returned to Troy for the 2008- 09 seasons, where he worked with hitting and infielders, while also coaching first base. The Trojans posted three straight 30-win seasons during that stretch.
An active member of the Alabama Baseball Coaches Association, Murphree was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2008 and has coordinated regional workouts for the underclassmen event for the last five years.
Murphree is a native of Athens, Ala., and played football, basketball and baseball at East Limestone High School. He was an All-Area selection in baseball and basketball in 1998 and was honorable mention All-State selection in 1996 and 1997.
He started his college playing career at Northwest Shoals in 1999-2000, helping the team to its first and only state title in 1999. He then played at Martin Methodist, where he was an All-Conference selection in 2002. He is a 2005 graduate of Troy University.
Away from the field, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Tabetha and daughter, Hannah Grace.
