Hammerin’ Harrison: Tommy Harrison hopes to lead the RedHawks to another MAC title

The Miami University RedHawks baseball team enters the back half of the season looking to defend the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship they won in 2025. After climbing to the one seed in the MAC tournament last year, right fielder Tommy Harrison has emerged as one of the team’s biggest catalysts.

Harrison played at St. Edward High School in Cleveland, where his powerful bat drew attention with a .420 batting average and a .988 on-base plus slugging as a junior. Harrison racked up the second most hits for his team despite missing ten games.

Harrison would make the roughly four-hour trek down Interstate 71 to Oxford, Ohio for his collegiate career. In his freshman season, he showed flashes of potential, driving in 23 runs while posting a .231 average and .402 on-base percentage. In 2024, however, Harrison suffered a knee injury, which held him out for an entire season.

Harrison continued to show up and stay involved by helping coach first base. That season was also when current head coach Brian Smiley and his staff came to Miami. Assistant head coach Kyle Trewyn quickly identified Harrison’s potential.

“Tommy was already here from the previous staff and we all knew and felt like he was a talented player,” said Trewyn. “He's just kept on doing what he’s been doing, which is hard work. He works his butt off in the cages constantly, always bouncing stuff off of me.”

Throughout the 2025 season, Harrison spent time in and out of the lineup, constantly refining his game. As the RedHawks pushed for a MAC regular-season title late in the season, Smiley knew that Harrison was due for a big step forward.

“I remember one time on the bus, telling the whole team, ‘Tom, you’re going to come up big for us toward the end of the year’”, Smiley said.

Harrison delivered. In the final regular season game against Ball State University, Harrison swatted four hits, including a double and a home run, bringing in five runs. That effort led Miami to a 26-16 win and it clinched the MAC regular-season title. He ended the season batting .209 with 18 hits, the most from a non-starter.

In the 2025 MAC tournament, Harrison remained hot. In the semi-finals against Kent State University, Miami found themselves in an early 1-0 deficit. With two outs in the bottom of the second, Harrison crushed a home run to right field that also brought in a run. Miami took a 2-1 lead and never looked back, taking a decisive 6-1 victory.

In the championship game against the University of Toledo, Harrison knocked one out of the park in the second inning again, extending the RedHawks lead to 2-0. This effort helped Miami hold onto a 6-3 victory, securing their first MAC Tournament Championship since 2005.

Now a redshirt junior in 2026, Harrison has solidified himself as a starter after finding his defensive home in right field. Originally recruited as a catcher, he has played first base, third base, and has now been moved to the outfield.

“It started really off the field,” Harrison said. “I showed up to the field with a good mentality every day. I don’t think one position’s any bigger than the other.”

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Harrison is a big, athletic player who finds his strengths in his instincts and physical tools.

“My IQ and the reads I make in the game make up for some of the lost foot speed, and I have a good arm,” Harrison said.

Harrison feels more comfortable and confident defensively, which allows him to focus on hitting. Serving as the primary clean-up hitter, fourth in the lineup, Harrison has the most runs (26), hits (33), runs batted in (32), doubles (8) and total bases (62) on the team through 22 games. His seven home runs are also second on the team behind infielder Evan Applewick’s 10.

What doesn't show on the stat sheet is Harrison’s locker room presence. Trewyn emphasized the impact on his teammates.

“He’s a teammate favorite,” Trewyn said. “He definitely has some charisma.”

Smiley also credits Harrison’s coachability and his willingness to remain optimistic.

“He’s always positive,” Smiley said. “He’s always got a smile on his face. He’s not going to back down.”

Harrison has continued to step up as a leader throughout his Miami career, bringing energy and making the most of his opportunities. Despite leading the team in nearly every offensive category, he is not one to take the spotlight for himself.

“I think I’m just one person, a part of 38 guys that have one common goal,” Harrison said. “That’s something we all share and that’s something we bond over.”

After position changes and injury setbacks, Tommy Harrison’s perseverance, hard work and improvement have paid off. Miami baseball will strive to go back-to-back as the MAC regular-season and tournament champions, with Harrison as a key piece in those hopes.

luebbeb2@miamioh.edu