Wayne State University Athletics

Baseball 4/10/2020 3:00:00 PM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

TURN BACK THE CLOCK - Anthony Bass 2008

As we continue our Turn Back the Clock feature, we will look back at some of the most significant events in Tartar/Warrior history.

In this segment of "Turn Back the Clock," we highlight baseball All-American pitcher Anthony Bass, who helped Wayne State reach the regional final in 2008.

The 2008 GLIAC Pitcher of the Year, Bass began the post-season by helping the Warriors edge Findlay 3-2. In the league tournament opener, Bass struck out six and allowed just two runs on five hits, while pitching a complete game.

In the first game of the NCAA Tournament for WSU, Bass tossed another gem holding Saint Joseph's to two earned runs (three runs total) while tossing another complete game. He struck out 12 and walked four, and limited the Pumas to seven hits.

Wayne State never trailed in either of the first two post-season games pitched by Bass.

The Warriors went 2-1 over the next two days, plus a rainout moved the regional final against Ashland back a day. On just three days rest, Bass returned to the mound and did not allow an earned run, while striking out 10 of the 31 Eagles batters he faced. Despite allowing just six hits and two walks in 8.1 innings, the WSU defense surrendered three unearned runs in the 3-0 setback. For his post-season performance, Bass was selected to the NCAA All-Tournament Team.

During the 2008 campaign, Bass compiled a 10-3 record with a 2.10 earned run average. WSU scored a total of three runs in his three losses. Bass struck out 100 batters and walked just 20 in 85.2 innings. He limited opposing batters to just 64 hits, including 12 extra-base hits (10 doubles and two home runs) along with a .209 batting average. Bass finished with seven complete games in 12 starts with two shutouts.

For his stellar junior season, Bass was voted to the Rawlings/ABCA All-America First Team and the NCBWA All-America Third Team, as well as being selected the Rawlings/ABCA All-North Central Region Pitcher of the Year. His 10 wins tied the single-season school record, while his strikeout total was fourth and innings pitched was fifth in program history.

He finished his three-year career ranked third all-time at Wayne State in victories (21), second in strikeout/walk ratio (3.38), tied for third in winning percentage (.700), fourth in strikeouts (206), seventh in starts (33), eighth in innings pitched (213.0), and tied for 10th in complete games (14).

A native of Trenton, Bass earned his degree in management information systems. He was on the Academic Honor Roll twice, including his last full-time semester when he had over a 3.75 GPA. Bass was the recipient of the 2007-08 WSU Male Student-Athlete of the Year award and was inducted into the WSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

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