Hartford Hawks baseball
| Hartford Hawks | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | 1958 |
| University | University of Hartford |
| Conference | America East |
| Location | West Hartford, CT |
| Head coach | Justin Blood (5th year) |
| Home stadium |
Fiondella Field 1,000 Dunkin' Donuts Park 6,056 |
| Nickname | Hawks |
| Colors | Scarlet and White |
The Hartford Hawks baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of the University of Hartford, located in West Hartford, Connecticut. The program has been a member of the NCAA Division I America East Conference since the start of the 1985 season. It has played home games at Fiondella Field since the venue opened at the start of the 2006 season. Justin Blood has been the program's head coach since the start of the 2012 season.
The Hartford Art School, Hartt College of Music, and Hillyer College merged to create the University of Hartford in February 1957. It began operation for the 1957–1958 school year. Although some Hartford athletic programs, such as men's basketball, trace their history to the teams of Hillyer College, records for the baseball program begin with the 1958 season.
1958 was the program's first season of competition. It competed as a member of the NCAA College Division, made up of small-school athletic programs. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the program competed as an Independent and played a schedule of between ten and twenty games each season.
The program's first head coach, Frank Klein, served in the position for three seasons (1958–1960). The program had a losing record in each season, and Klein's overall record was 14-29. He later became the first commissioner of the Connecticut Collegiate Summer Baseball League.
In 1961, Roger Wickman became the program's second head coach. In his first season, the program had its first winning record, going 7-5 in 1961. In twenty seasons as head coach, Wickman had six total winning seasons and finished with a career record of 146-178-5. Following the 1980 season, he stepped down from the head coaching position to become an administrator in Hartford's athletic department.
During Wickman's tenure (following the 1973 season), the NCAA had reorganized its divisions. The large-school University Division became Division I, while the small-school College Division split to become Divisions II and III. Hartford, which had competed as a College Division Independent, became a Division II Independent. It continued to compete as an Independent through Wickman's final season as head coach in 1980.
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