Cody Barham will be in his fourth season on staff in 2024 after coming to Southern as an assistant with the University of Tulsa and prior to that, Oklahoma State for a pair of seasons. During his tenure with the Lions they have gone 97-55-1 overall and 54-23-1 in the MIAA.
2023 was the year of the four Aces in the circle in Bailey Lacy, Kara Amos, Avery Tallman and Natalie Bates. As a staff the Lions had a 2.82 ERA and 1.45 WHIP, .255 opposing batting average and struck out 292 as Tallman was named an All-Region, All-MIAA and All-MIAA Tournament Team selection.
Tallman finished the season with a 19-4 record, 2.32 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, six complete games, a save, 129.2 innings with 67 strikeouts, opponents hitting .249 from 35 appearances and 22 starts. Lacy finished the season with a 12-2 record, 2.52 ERA and 1.33 WHIP, four complete games, three saves, 111.0 innings with 102 strikeouts, opponents hitting .244 from 34 appearances and 14 starts. Bates finished the season with a 7-4 record, 3.17 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, two complete game, two saves, 84.0 innings with 85 strikeouts, opponents hitting .267 from 25 appearances and 11 starts. Amos finished with a 3-5 record, 4.15 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, two complete games, two saves, 52.1 innings with 38 strikeouts, opponents hitting .271 from 24 appearances and nine starts.
The 2022 season saw the Lions Lions finish above .500 for the third year in a row and were above .500 in MIAA play for the second year in a row becoming the fifth team since 2000 to have an above .500 winning percentage overall and in conference play while being the first time to go three in a row since the 2000-02 seasons.
For the second time ever in program history the Lions had two pitchers finish with 100 or more strikeouts in the same season as Bailey Lacy had 119 for the 10th best tally in school history for a single season and eclipsed the 200 career mark and is tied for eighth currently, while Kara Amos finished with 100 and is nearing the 200 strikeout accomplishment. Lacy also finished the season with a 5.92 strikeout per seven inning rate the sixth best in a single-season while moving into fourth in the category among career ranks.
Among MIAA ranks the pitching staff was fifth in ERA at 3.34 overall and was 2.94 in conference play, Amos was sixth in appearances and tied for ninth in complete games, while Lacy was eighth in appearances, tied for ninth in complete games and tenth in WHIP.
As a team the Lions had 13 named onto the MIAA Academic Honor with Tori Frazier being a recipent of the prestigious MIAA Academic Excellence Award with a 4.0 in biology. The 100 strikeout pitching duo of Kara Amos and Bailey Lacy were named MIAA Scholar-Athletes as both were named All-MIAA and hold a 3.50 or better grade point average.
In 2021 the Lions were picked to finish 11th in the preseason poll before eventually finishing in third, owning a 30-15-1 record, the first 30-win season since 2011, and in MIAA play the Lions set a school record for wins going 19-6-1. It was the programs first back-to-back winning season since 2001-02 and at home the Lions went 17-4-1 the most wins at home since 2011.
As a team the Lions had eight earn MIAA Academic awards, Abby Atkin and Tori Frazier were named onto the prestigious MIAA Academic Excellence Award by having a 4.0 GPA. Atkin, and Makaila Leonhart were named Scholar - Athletes as they had at least a 3.50 GPA or higher and earned All-MIAA honors on the field. Kayla Arzate, Atkin, Frazier, Sidnie Hurst, Leonhart, Lynnlee Parrott, Josie Tofpi and Kristen Wade were named onto the honor for a 3.0 GPA or higher.
Sophomore, Josie Tofpi earned first-team All-MIAA honors at shortstop, freshman pitcher / utility player Kara Amos and sophomore catcher Ashlynn Williams were on the second-team. Senior second basemen Makaila Leonhart, junior pitcher Abby Atkin, sophomore infielder / utility player Leighton Withers, freshman corner outfielders Yazmin Vargas and Adrianna Young were named honorable mentions. Amos, was named a second-team All-Region Utility / Pitcher by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) and was named onto the MIAA All-Tournament team. Tofpi, was named onto the D2CCA Softball All-Central Region second-team as a shortstop as well.
In his first season helping the pitchers the Lions ranked sixth in overall ERA and strikeouts in the MIAA posting a 3.08 and getting 200 batters out on the third strike. In conference games the Lions posted a 2.56 ERA (6th in MIAA), struck out 115 batters (5th in MIAA) and limited opposing batters to a .244 batting average the fourth best in the MIAA. Amos in conference play posted the fourth best ERA 1.84, gave up just 34 hits the second fewest in the MIAA and had a .227 opposing batters batting average the 8th best in the MIAA, Atkin had a 2.73 ERA, a .242 opposing batting average and Lacy finished with a 2.86 ERA, 66 strikeouts the third most in the MIAA, had 18 batters looking on the third strike the fourth best in the MIAA and a .247 opposing batter batting average.
At Tulsa, Barham spent a season with the Golden Hurricane where he worked with the catchers, as well as coaching first base. At Oklahoma State, he worked with pitchers and catchers and helped the Cowgirls to a fifth-place finish at the 2019 Women’s College World Series. The coaching staff at OSU was named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Midwest Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.
Prior to OSU, Barham spent four seasons as an assistant and the junior varsity head coach at Oklahoma Wesleyan. There, he worked primarily with the pitching staff and oversaw the development of the outfielders. Former OWU pitcher Jenna Daniel ranks as one of his top talents, as she was named the MCAC Pitcher of the Year in 2014 and 2015, the KCAC Pitcher of the Year in 2016 and earned NAIA Second-Team All-America honors in 2016.
A native of Owasso, Okla., Barham has also coached at the high school level at Bartlesville High School.
