Montgomery, Ala. –On Saturday, Auburn University Montgomery took a 3-2 extra-inning, come-from-behind victory over No. 6 Lee University giving Head Coach Q.V. Lowe his 800th win as the Senator’s skipper. Lowe first arrived on the AUM campus in 1985 as the head coach at AUM and in the 21 years since has developed the Senators into one of the premier NAIA baseball powers in the Southeast.

Lowe is the only head coach in the history of the AUM program that he first led onto the field in 1986.  His teams have appeared in NAIA World Series three times (1990, 1992 and 2006) and compiled a record of 800-424-3 for an overall winning percentage of .653.  In 1990, Lowe was named the NAIA Coach of the Year and he has been named his conference’s Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2006.

Following his 800th victory, Lowe was uncharacteristically emotional.  “What a wonderful ride,” he remarked through misty eyes, “but since I started coaching I’ve never won a game.  I can’t take credit for any of these wins.  It was all the players that came before and this group today.”

“When I started this program, I really didn’t even think about the number of wins and losses.  I just wanted to make a quality program built around young men who wanted to play ball,” commented Lowe. 

Lowe, a native of Red Level, Ala., began playing ball as a youngster at Ocala High School in Ocala, Fla., where he was an All-State pitcher who compiled a 23-3 record, including a perfect 10-0 his senior year.  Following his prep career, he moved on to Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla., where he earned back-to back All Conference and All-America honors.  He led his team to the Junior College World Series as a freshman in 1965.

Lowe signed to play for Coach Paul Nix at Auburn University in 1966 and tallied a record of 23-3 in his two years on “The Plains,” including a 15-1 record as a senior and a trip to the NCAA World Series in Omaha, Neb.

After a successful collegiate career, Lowe signed a professional contract with the Chicago Cubs and played for five seasons before moving into the coaching ranks as a pitching and bullpen coach within the Cubs organization.  In 1975, he returned to the college ranks as head coach at Lurleen B. Wallace Junior College in Andalusia, Ala., where he would compile a 179-101 record.  Lowe also remained a professional coach during the summers, spending his summers with the New York Yankees farm system.  He left L.B. Wallace in 1982 to return to coaching professional ball full-time with the Yankees and later the Montreal Expos.

In 1985, AUM Chancellor Jim Williams offered Lowe the opportunity to build a baseball program from scratch and the offer was too good for him to ignore.  He led the first Senator team to an 8-27 mark, but just two seasons later, in 1990, Lowe found himself coaching in the NAIA National Championship game.  The Senators lost that game to Lewis-Clark State 9-4, but the solid foundation upon which Lowe built those early teams has never been compromised.

“I had no idea when I took that job (at AUM) I’d still be here today,” Lowe recalled, “Before that, the longest I’d had any job was six years.  There’s some reason I’ve been put here.  This is home to me. It always will be.”  Following his 800th victory and standing along side his wife of 19 years, Ginger, and his long time assistant and former AUM catcher Marty Lovrich, Lowe summed up his emotions, “God has been kind.  I’ll be here as long as God lets me.”