Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1990
In 1949, Bauer compiled a 4-0 regular-season record for the Southern Conference champion Deacons. He shut out Kentucky in the NCAA district title game and defeated Notre Dame in a regional playoff that helped the Deacs reach that year's four-team national championship, a 3-year-old event that was not yet named the College World Series.
The following season, the wily hurler achieved a remarkable 11-0 record, setting a single-season mark for victories that still stands. His 24 career wins at Wake Forest held as the school's all-time best for 39 years.
A promising professional career for Bauer following his graduation was interrupted by a stint in the Navy during the Korean War in 1952 and '53. He went 49-32 in seven seasons in the Chicago Cubs organization before deciding to pursue his career as an educator, joining the faculty at N.C. Wesleyan in 1960. He earned both his masters and Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He helped to found the Dixie Intercollegiate Conference, of which Wesleyan is a member, and the baseball field at the school now bears his name. He retired from N.C. Wesleyan in 1993 after 33 years of service.
Dr. Bauer died on June 24, 2005.
He was also inducted into the N.C. Wesleyan College Sports Hall of Fame, and the American Legion of North Carolina Baseball Hall of Fame.
