Patrick Murphy compares Women's College World Series to men's

The Women’s College World Series kicks off on Thursday, and there is a lot of excitement heading into the biggest event in college softball.

The sport continues to grow in popularity and seems to be getting more and more exposure each year. Alabama softball coach Patrick Murphy was recently asked how he would compare the Women’s College World Series to the men’s version.

Murphy stated that he believes the two events are becoming fairly similar, starting with the facility in Oklahoma City.

“I think, number one, this facility. We would come here and there wasn’t a warning track or a permanent fence. We complained for years and years and years,” Murphy said. “Caitlin Lowe, I remember, hit her chin on the fence, half of it fell off. It was on national television. It did not look good. Now it’s a permanent fence, padded by a professional company all the way around.”

Murphy added that there are other facility improvements that have made the Women’s College World Series better.

“The dugouts, bathrooms in the dugout, huge. There used to be a port-a-potty in the dugout or you’d have to run to the bullpen,” Murphy said. “This [media] room is spectacular. There’s enough room for everybody. The whole atmosphere is just so much better. I just applaud everybody that’s working towards equity.”

Alabama will face Tennessee in the opening game of the Women’s College World Series on Thursday at Noon. Other games Thursday include Oklahoma vs. Stanford, Florida State vs. Oklahoma State and Washington against Utah.

Montana Fouts shares key to growing college softball

Murphy isn’t the only member of the Alabama softball program to talk about growing college softball. Star pitcher Montana Fouts recently spoke about growing the sport, too.

The Alabama Crimson Tide star is one of the most exciting players in the entire sport, and most will tune in just to watch her play. But how do you keep interest growing and eyeballs moving towards the field?

Fouts believes it all begins with pushing views and getting more talented squads on television.

“Honestly I would just say push the views and things like that,” explained Alabama’s star pitcher. “Like Murph said, it’s well watched on TV. A lot of people are loving it and keeping up with it.

“Getting a lot of teams, not just in the SEC, across the country, just more visual TV, people can turn on and watch anybody that they want to, I think that’s really key in growing it.”