BOBBY BARBIER

Six seasons into his tenure as the head baseball coach at his alma mater, Bobby Barbier has left his imprint on Northwestern State baseball.

From leading the Demons to the first Southland Conference Tournament championship in 2018 to coaching the first single-season trio of All-Americans in Demon baseball history, Barbier has added his own layer of shine to the decorated NSU program.

Entering the 2023 season, a Northwestern State pitcher has been drafted in four straight seasons with the latest being Johnathan Harmon, who went in the 13th round to Cincinnati in 2022. Harmon followed Levi David (2021, New York Mets), Logan Hofmann (2020, Pittsburgh) and Nathan Jones (2019, New York Mets) as pitchers Barbier has helped guide to the MLB Draft. Overall, seven NSU players have been drafted under Barbier’s watch while current Oakland A’s right-hander Adam Oller spent two seasons with Barbier as his pitching coach.

In 2020, right-handed pitchers Hofmann (second-team Collegiate Baseball), Harmon (Collegiate Baseball Freshman) and Kyle Swanson (third-team CoSIDA Academic) earned All-American honors .

Depsite the COVID-19 shortened season, Hofmann led the nation in ERA (0.00) and struck out 38 batters in 28 innings, becoming a fifth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates, giving NSU consecutive seasons with the highest drafted Southland Conference player.

Behind that trio, the Demons ranked fifth nationally in team ERA (2.05), 10th in hits allowed per nine innings (5.97) and 12th in shutouts (3). All three totals led the Southland Conference.

One year after engineering the largest single-season turnaround in program history — a jump of 18 wins — the Demons returned to the Southland Conference Tournament and produced a pair of Major League Baseball draftees for the second straight season.

Right-handed pitcher Nathan Jones became the first top-five-round draft pick from Northwestern State since Mason Melotakis went in the second round in 2012. Junior shortstop Caleb Ricca then was tabbed by Seattle in the 23rd round, giving the Demons four draftees in the past two seasons.

Jones (second team), Ricca (third team) and outfielder Tyler Smith (third team) were named All-Southland Conference in 2019, giving NSU nine all-league players in the first three years of the Barbier era.

In 2018, en route to the Demons’ first NCAA Regional appearance since Barbier’s junior season of 2005, the Demons won 18 more games than they had the previous season and captured the first Southland Conference Tournament championship in program history. Northwestern State’s 38 victories were its most since 2005 when it won 41 games.

Barbier’s even-keeled leadership style helped mold a roster that had 17 newcomers into a cohesive unit that scored the first NCAA Regional shutout in school history, a 9-0 whitewashing of San Diego State.

The 2018 Demons enjoyed both team and individual success.

Three Demons earned individual acclaim from both the Southland Conference and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. Barbier was both organization’s Coach of the Year and earned the Central Region Coach of the Year award from the American Baseball Coaches Association.

Catcher/first baseman David Fry was the Southland Conference’s Player of the Year and the LSWA’s Hitter of the Year while right-handed pitcher Jerry Maddox was both the Southland and LSWA Newcomer of the Year.

Fry was named a third-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball Magazine, giving Northwestern State its second All-American in three seasons, joining Adam Oller, who earned the honor during Barbier’s term as the Demons’ pitching coach.

That role was one Barbier resumed in 2018, and his impact was immediately mea

surable.

In addition to Maddox’ first-team All-Louisiana and second-team All-Southland Conference selections, fellow junior Ridge Heisler was a third-team all-conference selection. Overall, the Demons shaved more than two and a half runs from their ERA, pitching to a 3.41 mark in 2018. That number ranked 18th nationally and was 2.65 lower than the previous season.

Following the Demons’ run to the NCAA Corvallis Regional, half of the NSU senior class heard its name called in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Fry was a seventh-round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers while center fielder Kwan Adkins, a third-team All-SLC pick, was nabbed by the San Francisco Giants in the 30th round.

Three-quarters of the NSU senior class reached professional baseball as pitcher Danny Hlad joined the Windy City Thunderbolts of the Frontier League following the season.

During Barbier’s first season, Fry produced the first 20-double, 10-home run season in school history, earning first-team American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings AllSouth Central Region honors.

Before becoming the 12th coach in the more than 100 years of Demon baseball history, Barbier spent two stints as an assistant coach with the Demons.

He spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons helping the Demons craft two of the lowest

ERAs in recent Northwetern State baseball history.

The son of former Nicholls football coach Darren Barbier was an easy choice to succeed Lane Burroughs.

In addition to helping guide ace Adam Oller to a pair of All-American selections, Barbier’s tutelage led the Demons staff to a 3.01 ERA that ranked ninth nationally.

Barbier directed Oller to a season in which he went 8-1, posted a 1.23 ERA (third-lowest nationally) and earned Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year honors, along with All-American nods from Louisville Slugger/ Collegiate Baseball magazine and the American Baseball Coaches Association.

In his first season, Barbier helped the NSU staff post a 3.55 ERA while Josh Oller became the program’s first 10game winner in 11 years and Brandon Smith tied the program record for single-season saves (10). The overall ERA marked an improvement of more than one run from 2014 and was the lowest mark since 2002 (3.54).

Forming successful pitchers stood in opposition to what Barbier did while wearing a Demon uniform.

Barbier, the 2006 Southland Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year, played four seasons for the Demons, finishing his career ranked in the top 10 in eight offensive categories. He remains second in NSU history in hit by pitches.

Upon his arrival in Natchitoches that summer, Barbier began implementing and imparting his pitching system that debuted at Brown-Stroud Field that spring.

After spending the 2007 season as a student assistant and the following two seasons as an assistant coach, Barbier joined former NSU head coach Mitch Gaspard’s staff at the University of Alabama, where he spent five seasons as the Crimson Tide’s third base coach.

While at Alabama, Barbier coached five All-Southeastern Conference selections, including Academic All-American Taylor Dugas. Twelve Alabama players were selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft during Barbier’s Crimson Tide tenure.

Barbier was part of a Crimson Tide coaching staff that led Alabama to four regional appearances from 2010-

14, including the Atlanta Regional championship and a berth in the 2010 Clemson Super Regional.

Barbier’s responsibilities at Alabama included coaching outfielders, assisting with catchers and infielders, directing camps and scouting and being heavily involved in recruiting. Barbier also was the staff’s academic coordinator. Barbier was a key contributor on the field as Alabama’s defense set a school record for fielding percentage in 2011.

During his first stint as a Demons assistant, Barbier coached NSU infielders and hitters as well as acting as the team’s base running coordinator. Under his tutelage, NSU led the Southland Conference in stolen bases with 99. Barbier also coordinated travel, field maintenance and team academics as an NSU assistant.

During his Northwestern State playing career, Barbier epitomized the term student-athlete. In addition to being awarded the Southland’s top individual academic honor, Barbier was a 2004 Academic All-American and part of the 2005 Southland Conference All-Academic Team.

On the field, Barbier saw the majority of his playing time at first base, earning honorable mention all-conference accolades in 2004 and first-team All-Southland honors in 2005, while helping lead NSU to the 2005 Southland Conference title and an NCAA Baton Rouge Regional berth.

Even though his playing career ended more than a decade ago, the left-handed-hitting Barbier still ranks in the career top 10 in hit by pitches (2nd, 44), RBIs (4th, 130), games played (7th, 209), doubles (T-10th, 33), hits (10th, 181) and total bases (10th, 267).

During his college career, Barbier laid the foundation for his future career, coaching American Legion ball for three years (2005-07) in Natchitoches and in Lafayette, directing each of his teams to regional tournament berths.

Barbier earned his bachelor’s degree in health and human performance from Northwestern State in December 2006 and his master’s degree in 2008. He is married to the former Kody Sprout and the couple has one daughter, Landry.

1: 3-2, vs. Cincinnati, Feb. 18, 2017

50: 5-0, vs. Abilene Christian, May 12, 2018

100: 4-1, at Grambling, March 10, 2020