Cory Barton - Associate Head Coach - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Cory Barton

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:

A former Tiger catcher and native of Trussville, Alabama, Barton returned to Memphis prior to the 2024 season after spending two seasons as the pitching coach at Mercer University.

In year one of Barton’s instruction, the Tigers saved 16 games (T-No. 5 in Memphis history), nine of which were saved by NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watchlist honoree Brayden Sanders. Sanders’ nine saves were also good for fifth-most individually in a season by a Tiger and led The American. Defensively, Memphis turned 54 double plays to rank 12^th in the nation.

Friday-night starter David Warren was named AAC Pitcher of the Week on April 1 after a career-outing vs. Florida Atlantic (7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 10 K).

The Tigers have created positive momentum within the program and fan base which was evident with a pair of top-five all-time crowds at FedExPark during the 2024 season. Memphis defeated Ole Miss at home on April 2 in front the fifth-largest FedExPark crowd (1,426) in program history and drew another 1,612 spectators (third-largest FedExPark attendance in history) on April 23 when they hosted Mississippi State.

In year one, Barton helped the Tiger staff piece together JBB’s No. 5 JUCO recruiting class in the country for 2024.

In 2023, Barton helped the Bears to a runner-up conference finish and wins over Baylor and Rutgers. Barton saw standout pitcher Josh Harlow selected by the Cleveland Guardians in the 19th round of the 2023 MLB Draft. The Bears enjoyed a 40-win season and were runners up in the Southern Conference in 2022 as well. Barton's staff led the league in strikeouts and batting average against in 2022, and in addition, his staff had the second-lowest ERA in the Southern and lowered its ERA after losing 200 innings of experience from the 2021 team.

Before his two seasons as the pitching coach at Mercer, Barton spent three season (2019-2021) at Rice University as the pitching coach.

In his final season at Rice, Barton's pitching staff was led by Brandon Deskins, who ranked 11^thin Conference USA with a 3.88 earned run average. Not only did Deskins lead the pitching staff in ERA, but he also lead the team in strikeouts (73), averaging 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings, the 33^rd-best mark in the nation.

Under Barton, the 2019 season proved to be a smashing success for the Rice pitchers. Not only was right-hander Matt Canterino named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Year, he was selected in the second round of the 2019 Major League Draft as the 54th overall selection. Four other Rice pitchers – Evan Kravetz, Garrett Gayle, Addison Moss and Roel Garcia – were all selected in the 2019 draft due to Barton's influence. The Rice pitching staff led Conference USA with 520 strikeouts on the season while Canterino (.199) and Kravetz (.200) finished first and second in lowest opposing batting average.

Barton joined Rice after a stint at Louisiana Tech, where he served as the Bulldogs' pitching coach and was named the 2018 Conference USA Assistant Baseball Coach of the Year. Not only did Louisiana Tech lead the league and finish 25th in the nation with a 3.48 ERA, the pitching staff also posted C-USA's second-best strikeouts-to-walks ratio (2.77-to-1), the 15^th best ratio among all Division I pitching staffs. The staff was also 12^th nationally in walks allowed per nine innings. The Bulldogs finished the season with a 21-9 record in conference play, setting the program record for league wins. The Bulldogs were 31st in the nation in WHIP (1.29), tied for second in the conference with four shutouts and maintained a steady .253 opponent batting average.

Prior to Louisiana Tech, Barton served four years as Associate Head Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at McNeese State where he helped lead the Cowboys to the 2017 Southland Conference regular season title. While at McNeese, the Cowboys won 30 games or more each year for the first time since 1995 and were also ranked in the top 25 for the first time in school history during the 2017 campaign. In 2015 the Cowboys posted a 3.66 team ERA, the second-best mark in the last 20 seasons, while also setting the then school record for strikeouts in a season with 466.

Barton is a 2007 graduate of Memphis and was on staff as an undergraduate assistant coach during Memphis’ 2007 NCAA Regional season. He also spent five seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UL-Monroe (2008-13). He and his wife, Robin, have one son, Cooper.