Coach Paul Murphy immediately turned a college without a baseball team into one of the most successful baseball programs in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Gwynedd Mercy, under Murphy’s guidance, has qualified for the conference playoffs a record setting 19 of 21 seasons – making it to the conference title game 13 times. Murphy has nine conference championships in that span, four regular season titles and five conference tournament championships. During his tenure, the Griffins have been ranked in the Top 25 in the country and Top 5 in the region on multiple occasions while garnering a berth into the prestigious NCAA tournament five times and the ECAC tournament three times.
In 2001, the Griffins advanced to the Mid-Atlantic regional championship and came within one game of making a trip to the College World Series in just the third year of the program. In 2006, Gwynedd-Mercy received the first ever at-large bid in conference history when the team took a 31-15 record and regional ranking into the post-season. In 2007, the Griffins were again in the conference championship game, only this time, Coach Murphy and the Griffins accomplished something that had never been done before or since in the conference championship tournament. Gwynedd Mercy, after losing their opening game of the playoffs, 3-2, rattled off four straight wins to capture the conference championship crown and NCAA tournament berth. The team entered the NCAA tournament with a 31-10 record, a regional ranking, and for the fourth time in program history, the Griffins were ranked in the Top 25 in the nation.
In 2008, year ten as a baseball program, Murphy turned in what many considered to be the best performance of his coaching career. On a team that had graduated eight seniors the previous year, and consisted of 18 freshmen and just two seniors, the Griffins started the season with only two wins in their first twelve games. In their next 30 games, the team improved to the tune of 20-10 – while sweeping through their conference playoffs without losing a single game. The young Griffins secured an NCAA tournament berth while also picking up the program’s sixth NCAA tournament victory.
This past season, the inaugural season of the Atlantic East Conference, the team swept through the conference playoffs going 5-0 winning the first Atlantic East Conference Baseball Championship. On their home field, as the #2 overall seed, Murphy’s team beat Neumann University 9-5 and followed that up with a 6-2 victory over Marymount to complete the first day of the tournament. In the semi-finals, the Griffins broke open a 9-9 game scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to eliminate Marymount University. In the Atlantic East Finals, the Griffins would only need two games in the best of three series as they pounded Cabrini University scoring 30 runs in the two games. The 20-5 victory in game one of the championship set the tone for another explosive 10 run performance in game two, as the Griffins swept the Cavaliers after a 10-9 victory crowned them 2019 Champions.
Under Murphy’s watchful eye, the Gwynedd Mercy University baseball program is currently ranked in the Top 50 in the nation in winning percentage since 1990. The Griffins have placed 123 players on All-Conference teams, 19 players have been named All-ECAC, 17 players have made the ABCA Regional All-American team and in 2017, the first Griffin was named to the National All-American Team. But, the most important numbers for Coach Murphy are the fact that over 300 players have been named to the Conference All-Academic team during his 21 years as head coach and that over 96% of his players have graduated from the university.
“At the NCAA Division III level, there are some really talented baseball players. There are many exceptional baseball programs that consistently challenge for National Championships – and many of our baseball teams have defeated Division I and II colleges and universities that offer baseball scholarships. NCAA Division III athletic programs are highly competitive, but we are about academics first,” says Murphy. “It is about student-athletes getting their college degree in four years and having a great experience while doing so. I am proud to be affiliated with Gwynedd Mercy University and NCAA Division III athletics.”
In addition to his on-field baseball responsibilities, Murphy has been appointed a representative on the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Advisory Committee on two separate occasions. First, from 2007 through 2009 and then again starting in 2013 and running through 2015.
Starting in 2012, Murphy has served as the NCAA Site Representative for the Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament for eight-straight years at prestigious venues like First Energy Park in Lakewood, NJ, home of the Lakewood Blue Claws, a Phillies minor league affiliate, PNC Field in Moosic, PA, home of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders, the NY Yankees AAA affiliate and Peoples Bank Stadium, home of the York Revolution in the Atlantic League.
From 2007-2014, he served as the chair of the ECAC South tournament selection committee, and was a member of the committee since 2003.
In 2016, Murphy was named to the NCAA National Baseball Committee and the Chair of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Advisory Committee. His responsibilities include being a member of the National Selection committee for the D3 NCAA Championships tournament, NCAA Site Representative for the Mid-Atlantic Region, and leading the Mid-Atlantic Regional Advisory Committee throughout the ranking process among others.
In September of 2017, Murphy was named as the Chair of the NCAA Division III National Baseball Committee and served through August of 2019. During his tenure, the committee oversaw a change in the championship tournament to the Regional/Super Regional format, as well as chose a new venue for the World Series. After 18 years in Appleton, Wisconsin, the venue moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 2019-2022, 45 minutes from legendary “Field of Dreams”.
Murphy graduated from NCAA Division I Saint Joseph’s University where he attended on a baseball scholarship and was named Rookie of the Year in 1989 while competing in the tough Atlantic 10 Conference. After an arm injury forced him to finish his college career after three seasons, Murphy started working for the Chicago Cubs from 1993-1997 before being hired to start the baseball program as the first and only Head Baseball Coach in Gwynedd Mercy University history in December of 1997.
Coach Murphy also serves as the Associate Director of Athletics at Gwynedd Mercy University. He resides in Montgomeryville, PA with his wife Amy (Snell), a very successful basketball player at Saint Joseph’s and their two daughters Maddux (12) and Rachel (9).
Coaching Record
|
|
Overall |
|
|
|
Conference |
|
|
|
| Year |
|
W |
L |
T |
Pct |
|
W |
L |
Pct |
|
Notes |
| 1999 |
|
12 |
21 |
0 |
.364 |
|
5 |
9 |
.357 |
|
First season ever |
| 2000 |
|
27 |
15 |
0 |
.643 |
|
12 |
4 |
.750 |
|
PAC Champions/NCAA Tournament |
| 2001 |
|
33 |
16 |
0 |
.673 |
|
18 |
3 |
.857 |
|
PAC Champions/NCAA Regional Runner-Up |
| 2002 |
|
23 |
18 |
0 |
.561 |
|
14 |
7 |
.667 |
|
PAC Playoffs |
| 2003 |
|
24 |
14 |
1 |
.631 |
|
16 |
5 |
.762 |
|
PAC Runner-Up/ECAC Tournament |
| 2004 |
|
26 |
19 |
0 |
.578 |
|
14 |
7 |
.667 |
|
PAC Runner-Up/ECAC Tournament |
| 2005 |
|
24 |
18 |
0 |
.571 |
|
13 |
8 |
.619 |
|
PAC Runner-Up |
| 2006 |
|
31 |
15 |
0 |
.673 |
|
18 |
3 |
.857 |
|
PAC Runner-Up/NCAA Tournament |
| 2007 |
|
33 |
12 |
0 |
.733 |
|
15 |
6 |
.714 |
|
PAC Champions/NCAA Tournament |
| 2008 |
|
22 |
20 |
0 |
.550 |
|
11 |
7 |
.611 |
|
PAC Champions/NCAA Tournament |
| 2009 |
|
22 |
15 |
0 |
.594 |
|
10 |
4 |
.714 |
|
CSAC Tournament |
| 2010 |
|
25 |
15 |
0 |
.625 |
|
13 |
5 |
.722 |
|
CSAC Runner-Up |
| 2011 |
|
18 |
16 |
1 |
.529 |
|
12 |
6 |
.667 |
|
CSAC Runner-Up |
| 2012 |
|
24 |
19 |
0 |
.558 |
|
11 |
7 |
.611 |
|
CSAC Tournament |
| 2013 |
|
20 |
18 |
0 |
.526 |
|
12 |
6 |
.667 |
|
CSAC Tournament |
| 2014 |
|
20 |
18 |
1 |
.526 |
|
12 |
6 |
.667 |
|
CSAC Runner-Up |
| 2015 |
|
9 |
20 |
0 |
.310 |
|
8 |
10 |
.444 |
|
- |
| 2016 |
|
19 |
21 |
0 |
.475 |
|
10 |
8 |
.556 |
|
CSAC Tournament |
| 2017 |
|
23 |
16 |
1 |
.575 |
|
13 |
8 |
.619 |
|
CSAC Tournament |
| 2018 |
|
21 |
14 |
0 |
.600 |
|
12 |
4 |
.750 |
|
CSAC Runner-Up |
| 2019 |
|
21 |
14 |
2 |
.567 |
|
8 |
4 |
.667 |
|
Inaugural Atlantic East Champions |
| 2020 |
|
3 |
8 |
0 |
.272 |
|
0 |
0 |
.000 |
|
Season shortened due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| Total |
|
480 |
362 |
6 |
.566 |
|
257 |
127 |
.669 |
|
|
