It competed as a member of the NCAA College Division, made up of small-school athletic programs.

[4] For the start of the 1984–1985 academic year, Hartford's athletic programs transitioned to Division I, joining the ECAC.

For the 1985 season, the program's first in Division I, it hired former Major League Baseball player Bill Denehy as its head coach.

Denehy was fired during his third season for making inflammatory comments following a game against UConn in which two brawls broke out.

Athletic director Don Cook, assisted by Wickman, coached the team for the remainder of the season.

[4][7] Prior to the start of the 1988 season, Hartford hired Quinnipiac head coach Dan Gooley as a permanent replacement for Denehy.

In 1992, the team went 27–21 and finished second in the North Atlantic Conference (which sponsored its first season of baseball in 1990), again appearing in the ECAC Tournament.

[4][10] In the late 1980s, future Major League Baseball player Jeff Bagwell played three seasons for the program.

[15] Following the 1992 season, Gooley left Hartford to become a baseball corporate executive, and the program promoted assistant coach and former Major League player Moe Morhardt to replace him.

It then won its first two games in the double-elimination final round (5–1 against first-seeded Delaware and 6–5 against second-seeded Northeastern).

The team then lost consecutive games to Northeastern in the championship round, however, and finished as the tournament runner-up.

[4][13][21] Future Major League player Earl Snyder played under Bretz and Nenna from 1995 to 1998.

[4] Hartford hired Bowdoin and Falmouth Commodores head coach Harvey Shapiro for the start of the 1999 season.

Under him, the team finished no higher than sixth in conference play and did not qualify for an America East Tournament, which in 1998 had adopted a four-team format.

[29] Commenting on Blood's hiring, Aaron Fitt of Baseball America called him "one of the top up-and-coming coaches in the Northeast.

[36] On May 6, 2021, the University of Hartford Board of Regents voted to drop its athletic department to Division III.

In its early years as a Division II program, Hartford played home games on campus.