Since you don't get bash protection until level 36, be cautious when approaching people who can bash you into the ground. Generally speaking, anyone with bash is going to outmelee you. And command denial for a mage is very bad.

If they are a gnome/svirf, don't worry about being bashed. Just worry about trip and/or specialization skills (misdirect, pincer, etc.). If they are human size, go with enlarge. If they are giant size, go with reduce. If you can at least trick the person you're going to fight by either not being able to bash you at all, or missing because you're too large, you'll have the opportunity to land the sleep spell, or whatever else. Blindness also works as a good opener. Just be prepared to absorb a good amount of damage from initiating combat with a spell.

My worst deaths are always because I forgot fly or bash protection. Those are the ones I really kick myself for.