By
Paul Suellentrop
Brady Pacha recently celebrated his 24th birthday last month with a cape and a nickname. He is known as "Super Unc," around the Eck Stadium locker room, a nod to his elder statesman status on the pitching staff and his 1.59 earned run average as a strike-throwing machine out of the bullpen.
Brady Pacha's cape
"The guys really look up to him," pitching coach
Anthony Claggett said. "They respect his toughness. They respect his day to day, the way he goes about his business."
Fellow pitcher
Brady Owens presented Pacha, a graduate student from Bishop Carroll Catholic High School, with a red Superman cape with "Unc" written below the Superman logo. Owens, Pacha said, saw the bit on social media.
"In the fall, he said, 'I'm going to start calling you 'Super Unc,'" Pacha said. "This past weekend, they brought (the cape) out and signed it."
Wichita State (20-10, 4-2 American) meets Tulane (15-15, 2-4) in a three-game series starting at 6:05 tonight (Thursday) at Eck Stadium. Pacha, a 6-foot-3 right-hander who transferred from Pittsburg State, is the pitcher Claggett hopes to deploy late in the game this weekend to close out at least one victory.
"We haven't hit him since he showed up on campus," WSU coach
Brian Green said. "Nobody has. The biggest thing about Brady – he pounds the zone. If he gives up a hit, it's a hit."
Pacha has made 13 appearances, most on the team, to go 2-0 with four saves and a .139 opponent batting average. His statistics are highlighted by 28 strikeouts, four walks, no wild pitches and no hit batters.
"If you've got three pitches as a closer, you can keep them off rhythm," Claggett said. "He can throw any of his pitches in any count. He works at his body, and he works at his craft, taking care of his arm."
He threw twice in WSU's conference series against Charlotte and Memphis, totaling three saves, a 0.90 ERA on 11 strikeouts, five hits and no walks over 10 innings. He threw four innings in a win over Charlotte and 3.1 to beat Memphis.
"It's always fun being locked into the games," Pacha said. "I'm used to relieving life. As a starter you have your one day to prepare for. As a reliever, you have to be ready from the first inning to the ninth, every game of the weekend."
Pacha started and relieved during his two seasons at Pittsburg State. In 2025, he largely pitched out of the bullpen and compiled a 2.86 ERA and one save.
When Wichita State coaches watched him pitch over the summer and on video, they saw the potential to get more out of his fastball.
Pacha, who throws with an over-the-top delivery, worked on pitching frequently at the top of the strike zone. Hitters, often looking to swing up to hit home runs, are prone to miss balls in that spot. That location also gives his curveball and slider more room to frustrate hitters lower in the strike zone. Pacha throws in the lows 90's and coaches think that location adds the appearance of more velocity.
"Throwing that fastball higher up in the zone has really helped," he said. "I get a lot of pop flies or swing and misses on my top-of-the-zone fastballs. My first bullpen, we started working on it."
As WSU's busiest reliever, Pacha must be diligent with his conditioning routine. Stretching is important. Massaging and heat packs help his arm get loose and stay fresh. He uses a scraping technique to improve blood flow to his arm.
"I really try to strengthen my arm before I pitch that weekend so I'm not as sore," he said.
Hitters, Pacha believes, face a tough task hitting a baseball past nine defenders. When the game gets into the late innings and the Shockers lead, it is Super Unc's job to make the baseball as difficult to hit, even if he leaves his cape in the locker room.
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
