THE OFFICIAL HOME OF McNEESE ATHLETICS

Cory Barton enters his third season as an assistant coach with the Cowboy program in 2017. Promoted to associate head coach last season, Barton has been instrumental in helping turn around the McNeese baseball program in just three seasons on head coach Justin Hill’s staff.
 
Barton serves as the program’s recruiting coordinator while also working with the Cowboy pitching staff. Barton’s 2015-16 recruiting class was among those recognized as top in the nation according to College Baseball Magazine. The Pokes were just one of three Southland Conference teams to be ranked on the list. Of those in that class, pitcher Bryan King was selected as Louisville Slugger All-American while local product Shane Selman led the team in home runs (10).
 
He helped bring in top-level talent in his first two seasons with McNeese. Barton is also a part of a movement envisioned by head coach Justin Hill that will help bring McNeese Baseball back to the forefront in Southwest Louisiana as the coaching staff is giving fans around the Lake Area a reason to make their way back out to Joe Miller Ballpark in the spring.
 
 Barton has been instrumental to the Cowboys’ success over the past two seasons, including three consecutive 30-win seasons from 2014-16. With a 32-25 overall record in 2015, McNeese recorded 30 wins for the 17th time in program history and back-to-back 30 win seasons for the first time since 2002-2003. In 2014, the Cowboys surpassed 30 wins for the first time since 2010. After McNeese was picked to finish eighth and tenth in the 2014 Southland Conference Preseason Polls, the Cowboys rolled out two straight victories in the league tournament before bowing out in the semi-finals. McNeese posted a 17-13 SLC record for its most conference victories since 2012.
 
His work with the McNeese pitching staff has played a major part in the overall success of the program since arriving on campus. In 2015, McNeese made history as the Cowboys staff posted a sub 4.00 ERA for the first time since the 1993, ending the year at 3.66. It was just the fifth time since 1990 that a McNeese baseball squad posted an ERA lower than 4.00.
 
Under Barton’s guidance, the Cowboy pitching staff has broken three team records while senior ace reliever Collin Kober set the career saves record last season as he reached 18 saves, surpassing former Cowboy head coach and player Chad Clement.
 
In 2016, Barton helped coach a McNeese pitching staff that finished with a 4.01 ERA, ranked fifth best in the league, while the Cowboys’ Kaleb Fontenot led the conference with 108 strikeouts while having registered a 2.02 ERA, second best in the SLC. Fontenot earned second team All-Southland honors for his work on the field while Kober earned honorable mention status for his nine saves produced during the season.
 
With Barton’s assistance, Kober was named to the 2015 All-SLC list as a third team selection and was also named to the Stopper of the Year and National Pitcher of the Year watch lists. The McNeese pitching staff was ranked among the top 10 teams in the conference in eight pitching categories, including a second best mark in saves (12) and third best opponent batting average (.256). In addition, Kaleb Fontenot struck out 92 batters, ranked fourth in the league followed by Kober who posted nine saves on the season, good for fourth place among all conference tossers. 
 
The Cowboys also turned in three of the lowest opponent batting averages in the conference during the 2014 season.  Steven O’Bryant led the pack with a .225 average while Cole Prejean and Kaleb Fontenot also placed in the top ten among league tossers.
 
Barton was instrumental in helping pitchers Kaleb Fontenot and Michael Clemens to the Major League Draft. Fontenot was chosen by the Texas Rangers in the 21st round in 2016 while Clemens was drafted by the Pittsburg Pirates in the 17th round in 2014.
 
He has earned a reputation as one of the top collegiate baseball recruiters with three of his recruiting classes at ULM being recognized by Collegiate Baseball as one of the tops in the nation.  Baseball America tabbed his 2011 recruiting class as one of the best alongside LSU, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Baylor.
 
Prior to his arrival at McNeese, Barton spent five seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Louisiana-Monroe where he helped lead the Warhawks to a Sun Belt Conference championship in 2012. Barton joined the ULM staff in September 2008 after two seasons as an assistant coach at Memphis and a two-year playing career with the Tigers.
 
Barton worked with ULM hitters. During his five years at the school, Warhawk hitters have hit .285 as a team, including the second highest team batting average in school history in 2009 (.325).
 
That 2009 season also saw the Warhawks post the second most hits (685), second most RBIs (437), second most home runs (85), third most runs (485), third most at-bats (2,109) and third most doubles (126) in school history.
 
The Warhawks advanced to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship Game in his first season knocking off third-seeded Troy and regular season co-champion Western Kentucky on the way.
 
A two-year letterwinner behind the plate for Memphis in the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Barton played in 94 games, making 86 starts. The 2006 Tiger co-captain hit six home runs and drove in 49 runs.
 
During his coaching career at Memphis, Barton assisted with the Tiger hitters and served as the bullpen coach.  He was also in charge of maintaining contact with the area high school coaches.
 
Upon completing his eligibility, Barton, a native of Trussville, Ala., graduated from Memphis with a sport management degree in May 2007.
 
Barton has also spent time in the coaching ranks as the assistant coach of the Danville Dans of the Central Illinois Collegiate League (CICL) after his senior season at Memphis in the summer of 2006. As the hitters and catchers coach, Barton helped the Dans to the CICL regular season championship and a tournament runner-up finish.
 
He undertook his first head coaching position in the summer of 2007 as the skipper of the Bama Bombers, a high school travel team that consisted of some of the best talent in the southeast.
 
Prior to Memphis, Barton won two letters behind the plate for Shelton State where he was a second team All-Alabama Community College Conference performer and led SSCC to a North Division crown in 2004.
 
 Barton is married to the former Robin Taylor.