Cory Barton - Baseball Coach - Mercer University Athletics

Cory Barton

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
barton_cl@mercer.edu
Phone:
(478) 301-2738

First Season at Mercer (Hired in July 2021)
Education: Memphis 2007

Cory Barton is in his first season as an assistant coach for Mercer in 2022, where he serves as the pitching coach for the Bears.

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.

Like every college baseball team in 2020, Barton's second season with the Owls came to an abrupt halt in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 15 of the Owls' pitchers recorded game action, and Barton was good to his word from the recruiting trail as eight Rice pitchers made their Division I debut in 2020. A highlight from the short season was the long-awaited return of star right-hander Roel Garcia.

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 Trussville, Ala., native and a 2007 graduate of Memphis. He also spent five seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Louisiana Monroe.

He and his wife, Robin, have one son, Cooper.