The 1983 Otterbein baseball team was the first Cardinal squad to make it to a national championship game in any sport. Led by Coach Dick Fishbaugh, team MVP Kirk McDonald, and first team All-OAC selections, Mike Blythe and Bret Brownfield, the Cardinals would make it to the NCAA College World Series after winning the conference championship. Beating their archrivals, the Marietta Pioneers, in the championship of the OAC Southern Division and again in the first game of the NCAA Division III World Series, the club would lose to North Carolina Wesleyan before winning two more games and setting the stage for a classic matchup in the national championship game against Marietta. Although the team would ultimately lose, the success of the 1983 team highlighted Otterbein baseball as one of the best Division III programs in the country.