BEREA, OHIO -- Baldwin Wallace University Head Baseball Coach Brian Harrison is being honored as the Mideast Region Coach of the Year, for his work on the field and for leading the Yellow Jackets to their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Baseball World Series.
This season, Harrison has guided BW to a school-record 29 victories and a 29-18 record prior to playing Emory (Ga.) University in its first World Series game at 2:15 p.m. (EST) at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin. You can watch (video), listen and follow the live stats via the BW web site at www.bwyellowjackets.com.
In addition, in his first four seasons at BW, Harrison has compiled a 100-61 mark, including back-to-back seasons of 27-13 in 2012 and 2013. The 27 wins represented the previous school record.
Harrison returned to Greater Cleveland where he grew up in Westlake, Ohio and was a prep standout at Lakewood St. Edward High School.
Harrison came to BW following a three-year stint at Dayton where his responsibilities included hitting, outfielders and recruiting. While at Dayton, the Flyers improved offensively in almost every category. In 2009, Dayton won its first Atlantic 10 Conference Championship in school history behind the 21st ranked offense in all of NCAA Division I baseball.
Prior to his time at Dayton, Harrison served as the head coach at NAIA Urbana University and turned the Blue Knight program into a winner. After going 7-43 in 2005, he coached the Knights to a 37-21 record and a second-place finish in the American Mideast Conference's South Division and a fourth-place finish in the Region IX Tournament in 2006. For his efforts, Harrison was named AMC South Division Coach of the Year. The 30-win difference was one of the best single-season turnarounds in NAIA history. Harrison did it again in 2007 by leading Urbana to a 32-21 record. That marked the fourth time in five years as a head coach that Harrison's teams amassed 30 or more victories in a single season. Harrison had a 76-85 career mark at Urbana, including a very solid, 69-42 slate in his last two seasons.
As a standout collegiate player at NAIA Shawnee State University, Harrison had more than 40 career homeruns and 200 RBI. He earned NAIA All-America honors after leading the Bears to a fifth-place finish at the 2000 NAIA College World Series and was later named to the Shawnee State Hall of Fame. He then continued his baseball career at the professional level for two years before deciding to join the coaching ranks.
Harrison, his wife Traci, their two sons, Braden and Luke, and newborn daughter, Harper, currently reside in North Ridgeville, Ohio.
Four BW Baseball Players have also been named to the D3Baseball All-Mideast Region Team.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
