Wichita State baseball tied for American lead after road series win at Memphis
Brady Pacha kept showing up when the Wichita State baseball team needed the biggest outs of the weekend. And every time, the Bishop Carroll graduate delivered.
The Wichita native was the steady hand behind Wichita State’s series win at Memphis, slamming the door in both of the Shockers’ victories and continuing what has become a lights-out start to American Conference play for the senior right-hander.
Behind Pacha’s shutdown work out of the bullpen, WSU took two of three on the road at FedExPark, winning 7-3 on Friday and 7-3 again on Sunday to improve to 19-10 overall and 4-2 in the American. After two weekends of league play, the Shockers are tied for first place in the crowded standings with UAB and UTSA.
“It feels like the league is going to be really level this year,” WSU manager Brian Green said. “It feels like there’s going to be a lot of 1-1 ties going into Sunday, so stacking series wins is going to be huge. We’re feeling good after two weekends to get one of the upper-half teams (Charlotte) and then winning on the road is hard. I’m proud of the guys.”
Pacha’s fingerprints were all over the series.
He earned the save in Friday’s opener after entering in the sixth inning with Memphis threatening and WSU protecting momentum. The Tigers had already scored two unearned runs in the inning and had two men on base when Pacha came in and got the final out. From there, he took over, allowing just one single over the final three innings while striking out five to preserve a 7-3 victory.
Then he was called upon again on Sunday.
After WSU had extended its lead in the rubber match, Memphis put two men on in the eighth and threatened to make one last push. Once again, the Shockers turned to Pacha. Once again, he got out of the jam, stranding both runners and protecting a four-run lead on the way to another 7-3 win.
Pacha has now appeared in all four of the Shockers’ conference wins and helped close out all four. In conference play, Pacha has allowed one earned run in 10 innings with 11 strikeouts and no walks. For the season, his ERA dropped to 1.59 and 10 of his 13 outings have been scoreless.
“Man, he’s got All-American numbers,” Green said. “He comes in and pounds the zone. He’s been the equalizer for us. He’s got a really slow heartbeat. No rattle in his game. He’s been a separator for us these first two weekends.”
The Shockers needed that bullpen stability over the weekend.
Friday’s series opener was WSU’s cleanest all-around performance, as the Shockers got home runs from Jaden Gustafson and Jayson Jones and a big pinch-hit swing from Jacob Gutierrez. WSU struck first with two runs in the second inning, then added Gustafson’s solo home run in the third and an opposite-field RBI double from Owen Rush in the fourth for a 4-1 lead.
Gutierrez came through with a two-out, two-run single in the sixth to extend the lead to 6-1. Those insurance runs proved critical because Memphis answered with two unearned runs in the bottom half before Pacha came on to shut the rally down. Jones later added a solo home run in the ninth.
Saturday looked nothing like Friday.
Memphis (8-18, 2-4 American) jumped Wichita State early and never let the Shockers back into the game, evening the series with an 11-1 run-rule victory in eight innings. The Tigers tagged starter Brady Hamilton with seven runs in the first three innings, as WSU was held to just five hits.
It was the second straight weekend where WSU played well on Friday to win, then poorly on Saturday to lose. Both times, the Shockers responded with another strong performance on Sunday to claim the series.
“I was really happy with our response again (Sunday),” Green said. “That’s back-to-back weekends where the game has got away from us on Saturday, but we haven’t let that disrupt us. We just get on to the next game. I was really impressed with the guys’ ability to show up today and I thought we competed really hard and just kept chipping away.”
Starter Johnny Nuanez never looked fully comfortable, laboring through the first two innings with shaky command. He walked three batters, allowed two hits and needed double plays to escape trouble. In the third, the control issues finally caught up with him, as Nuanez issued two more walks and hit a batter to load the bases with two outs in a 1-1 game.
That’s when Caleb Reed produced one of the most important stretches of the weekend, coming out of the bullpen and striking out the first batter he faced to leave the bases loaded and keep the game tied.
Reed wound up allowing a pair of solo home runs, but his 2 2/3 innings still helped stabilize the game. He struck out five and bought WSU time to take control offensively.
The Shockers grabbed that control in the fourth when Jack Quick belted his first home run as a Shocker for a 2-1 lead. They added on in the fifth when Kaleb Duncan singled, Gustafson walked, Jayson Jones delivered an RBI single and Quick followed with another RBI single to stretch the lead to 4-1.
After Memphis trimmed the margin to 4-3, Brady Owens came on and retired six straight hitters before running into trouble in the eighth. That brought Pacha jogging in from the bullpen again, and the right-hander extinguished the threat.
Wichita State had already given itself breathing room in the seventh. Duncan reached, Gustafson singled, Jones drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and then Owen Washburn and Gutierrez added RBI singles during a three-run inning that pushed the lead to 7-3.
Jones extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a 2-for-4 showing on Sunday, continuing his torrid start to the season. He’s now hitting .378 with 32 runs, nine home runs and a team-best 36 RBIs.
“I was really impressed with Jayson this weekend and I thought he was very mature at the plate,” Green said. “He didn’t try to do too much. He’s obviously a great talent and is having a great year, but he’s just been very mature at the plate.”
By the end of the weekend, that was the winning formula for WSU. The Shockers got enough offense, pieced together the middle innings on the mound and handed the game to a reliever who has become nearly automatic.
Up next for Wichita State is its annual kids day game against Washburn at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday, followed by a three-game home series against Tulane at Eck Stadium beginning Thursday at 6:05 p.m. Tulane enters 14-15 overall and 2-4 in the American after being swept by UAB.
Shocker softball drop road series after wild opening win
WSU softball came away from Tampa with a thrilling win, but ultimately dropped the weekend series at South Florida, losing two of three after opening with an 11-inning, four-hour marathon victory on Friday.
The Shockers (19-13, 7-5 American) began the series in the most dramatic fashion. The victory looked all but sealed in the bottom of the seventh when Ryley Nihart re-entered and appeared to record the final strikeout, but the dropped third strike led to a throw from catcher Gabby Scott that sailed into the outfield and allowed two runs to score, forcing extra innings.
USF (27-11, 9-3 American) then appeared to win the game in the ninth on a walk-off single, but the play was nullified because the batter had not properly re-entered the lineup. The Shockers took advantage of the break and scored the go-ahead run in the 11th on a USF throwing error. Kammie Smith led the offense with three hits and two RBIs, including a solo home run, while fellow freshman Kinzey Woody delivered a key two-run double during a three-run third inning.
The offense cooled considerably in Saturday’s 3-1 loss when WSU managed only four hits with Ausha Moore supplying the lone run with her team-leading 10th home run.
On Sunday, the Shockers showed more life at the plate but could not keep pace in a 6-3 loss that sealed the series for the Bulls. Trinity Allen hit two solo home runs, Woody added another and Johnna Schroeder went 3 for 3 as WSU finished with nine hits. But USF answered each rally with timely hitting and pulled away late.
The Shockers are back in action for a mid-week game at No. 5 Oklahoma in Norman on Tuesday, then will host Tulsa (12-21, 4-8 American) for a three-game series beginning Thursday at Wilkins Stadium.
This story was originally published March 29, 2026 at 4:45 PM.
.jpg)