South Carolina Baseball: Ranking the top-15 pitchers in Gamecock history
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Baseball’s No. 2 Greatest Pitcher of All-Time:
Earl Bass
Gamecock legend Earl Bass (1972-1975) was the best pitcher on the best pitching staff in program history. Competing alongside fellow studs Tim Lewis and Greg Ward, Bass stood out with his elite strikeout stuff and never-ending toughness on the mound.
Despite that toughness, Bass could not overcome injuries in the early portion of his career, missing part of his freshman campaign and most of his sophomore year. When he got healthy as a junior, though, Bass became the most dominant pitching force to ever wear garnet and black.
Among Gamecock starting pitchers, Bass holds the career record for best ERA (1.34), second-lowest WHIP (0.88), most shutouts (8), and best Win-Loss% (34-3, 92%). Bass also completed his starts in half of his attempts, totaling 22 complete games in 44 starts on the bump.
After becoming a full-time healthy member of the starting rotation, Bass was an All-American in both 1974 and 1975. In ’74, he was also a useful hitter in the Gamecock lineup, walking more times than he struck out, stealing 13 bases, and knocking in 33 runs. His 33 RBI were about 2.5 times as many as his allowed earned runs on the mound (13) the same year.
Bass’ second All-American nod in 1975 also served as a catalyst to the team’s first-ever appearance in the College World Series. The Gamecock hurler made the All-Tournament team for the ’75 College World Series as he led South Carolina baseball all the way to the championship game against Texas.
A 2017 SEC Legend honoree and 1989 South Carolina Athletics Hall of Famer, Bass also had his jersey retired in 2019. He is now one of three Gamecocks to ever receive the honor, along with coach Ray Tanner and fellow pitcher Kip Bouknight.