After this many, one can't be expected to remember all of them.

Hudak entered this weekend's series against Radford on the cusp of another milestone -- his 800th career win. He took the field on Friday with 798 and stands to join a select list with two more victories.

Hudak will be only the 28th active coach in the nation to cross the 800 threshold. Once the season ends and two of the coaches above him retire (former employer Ron Polk at Mississippi State and Florida International's Keith Cooney have already announced they're stepping down), Hudak will be 26th, with 25 clearly in the cross-hairs (Tulane's Rick Jones had 806 before this week began).

Thoughts? Reactions?

"It just means I've coached a long time," Hudak said. "I'm an old guy."

Already the winningest coach in school and Big South Conference history, Hudak said he wasn't tracking the path to 800, but knew he was close. His wife, Rhonda, dropped him a note in the preseason that said she was looking forward to seeing him hit 800 and he was reading game notes a week ago and found out he was within four.

"It has been in the back of my mind," he said. "Not anywhere near the front of it. I think anybody would be lying to say it wasn't something that mattered. It's something that just will happen."

It could be this weekend, it could be next. When it happens, Hudak will probably stop for less than a minute, congratulate himself and go on to the next game.

Accolades for No. 800 shouldn't be a deterrent toward winning No. 801.

"Never. He never talks about that stuff," said pitcher Mike Ritson, who said he had no clue Hudak was that close to a milestone. "He focuses on one game at a time."

"Coach is a guy that doesn't focus on personal milestones," said first baseman Eddie Tisdale, who was aware of the achievement. "He's all about the team. He hasn't mentioned anything about it to us, but we knew he was getting close."

Hudak couldn't remember the first game he won, at Geneva College in 1981. He knew Winthrop beat USC Aiken at a tournament in 1992 for his first win with the Eagles.

He also recalled getting a memorial ball from athletics director Tom Hickman for his 500th win at Winthrop and another for his 600th career win. The mementos and the wins all mean something, but they all mesh after a while into one goal.

"Us winning the games and doing what we want to do this year is way more important than whether I have 800 or 500 or 700 wins," Hudak said. "I haven't thrown a pitch for any of them, I haven't gotten a hit. All I've done is try to prepare our guys and I've had great players and great assistant coaches that have certainly helped reach that 798 mark and it will be the same when we get to 800."

He once pondered getting into the administration side of the sport -- his master's is in athletic administration -- but decided he wanted to stay on the field. Having Hickman and school president Anthony DiGiorgio as supportive employers have helped.

"Sitting here in this dugout in this beautiful stadium, if you'd have told me 17 years ago that we would have this, I would have probably told you you were crazy," Hudak said, gazing around at The Winthrop Ballpark, the product of a lot of work and belief. "Winthrop's been very good to me. I could never thank Winthrop enough for giving me the chance to be a Division I head coach."

There's been no planning -- at least by Hudak -- for any kind of special recognition for No. 800, because it hasn't taken root as something that needs to happen. There are more important goals.

Winthrop (21-28, 8-7 Big South Conference) can make significant headway with a winning weekend or series sweep against the Highlanders. That moves the Eagles further into the top half of the Big South, crucial toward making the Big South tournament an easier weekend.

That's been the main thought in Hudak's preparation, because without that, there'll be no 800th win or many more after that. He said he's glad he's got the chance to hit it at home, because after this weekend, Winthrop travels for its remaining four regular-season games and the BSC tournament.

"Right now in the heat of the battle, it's something that's nice, but it's not as important as my players are and not as important as my coaches and not as important as the team winning games," Hudak said. "Neat to sit here and if the Lord never lets me win another ballgame, I've been blessed because he's allowed me to do something that I totally love doing and I get paid for.

"Aside from my kids, there's nothing better than coming to the ballpark."

• NOTE: Winthrop's getting thin at catcher.

Starter John Murrian is day-to-day for the Radford series with the hairline fracture in his left wrist, making it painful to swing. It's healing and will not require surgery, but Hudak said everything's geared to having Murrian 100 percent for the Big South tournament.

Backup Billy Froehlich is having slight trouble breathing out of one nostril, the result of a broken nose picked up in batting practice last week. Froehlich plans to play this weekend, then have surgery on Monday. He'll miss Tuesday's game against No. 2 North Carolina but should be ready for the UNC Asheville series on May 16-18.

Freshman Eddie Rohan is the only other catcher on the roster. No one wanted to talk about the possibility of him getting hurt.

"We'll be fine," Hudak said.