Tyson Bass hits first home run pushing UNC baseball to Stony Brook sweep

While Tyson Bass stood on deck, hitting coach Jesse Wierzbicki gestured for the graduate right fielder to “come here.”

It was before Bass’ last at-bat in UNC’s second game against Stony Brook. The graduate was 0-3 on the day. Bass approached Wierzbicki in the bottom of the seventh. 

“Okay, what’s up?” Bass said. 

The hitting coach noticed Bass’ feet were too far apart in his setup, a product of the player trying to “be in the ground more.” Wierzbicki told Bass to put his feet closer together. The simple issue caused a chain reaction that Bass described as “start bad, then bad, bad, bad.”

Bass flew out to left field in his last at bat on Saturday. But when he stepped to the plate on Sunday, he singled to center field. The small change was all it took. 

“Long story short, they just had to be closer together,” Bass said.

The right fielder’s performance on Sunday propelled the No. 5 Diamond Heels past Stony Brook, 9-5, to secure their third-straight series sweep. Bass went 4-5, recording four RBIs, two runs and one home run. Behind his outing, UNC is now 12-0 for the first time since 2013. 

Bass hasn’t been performing well to start the season. He had a .227 batting average before Sunday. Last week, the graduate struck out seven times in a weekend series against ECU. 

“I’ve struggled,” Bass said. 

But simplicity is sometimes all it takes for a guy like Bass. He’s a man of few words. He doesn’t put too much weight on any situation, even if coming to UNC marked a change from his previous collegiate career. 

The graduate transferred after four seasons from N.C. Wesleyan, a school located about 40 minutes from his hometown of Lucama, N.C.. It’s such a small town that the University's 1,300 students outnumber Lucama’s population. 

He has a thick, drawn-out country accent that shows his roots. He wears a permanent smirk. 

“[He] doesn’t worry about much of anything,” graduate first baseman Hunter Stokely said. “[That’s] just how he is. I grew up playing baseball with him. That’s how he was when we were little.” 

So, Bass was never too concerned about the lack of hits or the strikeouts. It probably helped that he had full confidence from head coach Scott Forbes on his side, especially on the defensive end. 

“I told him, ‘Hey, man, I’m not taking you out because you’ve been saving a ton of runs,’” Forbes said. “‘So just stay loose in there and be yourself.’” 

After hitting a single to center field, Bass did it again in the bottom of the fifth. Then, he did it one more time in the sixth only this time to left field on the first pitch. 

Bass was settled by the time the eighth inning rolled around. On a 2-0 count, Stony Brook pitcher Ryan Dieguez hung a breaking ball over the center of the plate. With his feet closer together, Bass sent it 411 feet over the center field wall at 104 miles per hour. 

Stokely ran the rest of the bases and greeted him at home plate. 

“It felt amazing,” Bass said. “Like indescribably good to hit the ball again. Yeah, it was nice for sure.” 

Bass didn’t have any wild celebration plans. He ate with his parents. Bass just took Wierzbicki’s suggestion and followed it. Then, like everything else, he let it roll off his shoulders. 

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@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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