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RYAN GAINES
Coordinator of Baseball Operations | Seventh Year Ryan Gaines enters his seventh season as OU baseball’s coordinator of baseball operations in 2012. Gaines is responsible for the day-to-day operations off the fi eld, including team travel, serving as a liaison with the training room, equipment room, media relations, strength and conditioning, athletics administration and Home Run Club. He is also the camp director for the Oklahoma Baseball Camp. The Harrah, Okla., native is no stranger to working for the OU Athletics Department or under Sunny Golloway. Gaines worked as a student trainer for the University of Oklahoma baseball and football teams from the fall of 1991 to spring of 1995. In addition, he was the team trainer for the Peninsula Oilers baseball team (coached by Golloway) in Kenai, Alaska, for three years, including the 1993 and 1994 seasons when the Oilers won back-to-back NBC World Series championships. In 1996, he teamed up with Golloway at Oral Roberts University where he served as the baseball team’s administrative assistant in 1996 and 1997. Prior to his stint in Norman, he worked in the sporting goods industry as a successful team salesman from August of 1997 to July of 2005. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Gaines received his bachelor’s degree in health and sports science in 1996. Gaines and his wife, Kate, who also works for the athletics department as an administrative assistant for women’s basketball, have two children, Hannah (11) and Gabe (7).
RICH HILLS
41 | Volunteer Assistant | Third Year
MICHAEL ROCHA 44 | Student Assistant | First Year
Rich Hills, a four-year starter for the Sooners in the early 1990s and a key member of Oklahoma’s National Championship team in 1994, returned to the Sooner program in 2012 for a second stint as a volunteer assistant coach.
Former Sooner, Michael Rocha, returned to OU as a student coach for the 2012 season. Rocha was a four-year letterwinner and starter for the Sooners on the mound from 2008-2011.
Hills, a shortstop, originally played at OU from 1992 to 1995 and made three appearances in the College World Series (1992, 1994 and 1995) while current head coach Sunny Golloway was an assistant for the team.
He took over the No. 1 starter role towards the end of the 2010 season. He helped lead that Sooner squad back to the College World Series for the 10th time in program history and first since 1995. Rocha was 8-2 with a 3.53 ERA tin 2010.
Hills also played on the 1994 National Title team with OU assistant Aric Thomas. Hills first worked on OU’s staff during the 2001 and 2002 seasons, working with the hitters and infielders. He will assist in those same areas in the 2012 campaign.
In 2011, he was voted a team captain prior to the campaign and was later named a 2011 Collegiate Baseball second team All-American after posting a 10-3 mark to go along with a 1.75 ERA. Rocha was also named a 2011 All-Big 12 first team (coaches) and was a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award (awarded to nation’s top player).
The former Sooner was a three-time second team All-American as well as a threetime first team All-Big Eight and All-Region honoree. In 1993, he was named to the Cape Cod League All-Star team.
At the end of the 2011 season, Rocha was drafted in the 26th round by the Philadelphia Phillies.
He also played professional baseball for six years for the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres.
In four years as Sooner hurler, Rocha appeared in 76 games with 40 starts and a 2711 record. He finished with a 3.50 career ERA with 211 strikeouts in 298.1 innings pitched.
Since 2001 Hills has provided private lessons in both baseball and softball for kids of all ages and in all areas of the game.
A native of Buda, Texas, Rocha is currently working towards finishing his bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies at the University of Oklahoma.
Born in Garden Grove, Calif., Hills graduated from OU with a bachelor’s in sociology. He resides in Oklahoma City with his wife, Tara, and two kids, Graysen and Dakota. 70
2012 University of oklahoma baseball - soonersports.com