UA Baseball Coach Jim Wells to step down

TUSCALOOSA | University of Alabama head baseball coach Jim Wells has decided to step down, according to sources close to the Crimson Tide baseball program.

Neither Wells nor UA athletic director Mal Moore were immediately available for comment.

This past season, Alabama finished with a 31-26 record.

With that, Wells finishes his career at the university as the winningest coach in Crimson Tide history with a 553-272 overall record.

The UA skipper notched his 488th victory on Mar. 3, 2006, against Appalachian State to break the previous record of 487 wins held by Dr. Barry Shollenbeger (1980-94).

Wells coached his 1,000th all-time game at South Alabama on Mar. 8, 2006. Bama won that game 7-6.

He also notched his 500th win at Alabama with a 5-4 win over No. 1 ranked Miss. State on April 1, 2006. The game drew a stadium record crowd of 6,821 fans.

In his 17 seasons, Wells has won five regular-season conference championships, eight post-season conference championships and taken 13 of his 17 teams to NCAA Regional play, with three teams advancing to the College World Series.

The Crimson Tide captured the 2006 SEC Championship with a 20-10 record this season. Alabama (44-21) won its sixth NCAA Regional championship and fourth under Wells last season. Bama played in the NCAA Super Regionals for the second time in school history and first since 1999.