Oklahoma softball fans finally got the news they had been waiting for from associate head coach and pitching coach Jennifer Rocha on Thursday.
Rocha has been away from the team all season with an undisclosed health matter, but in a video released by OU, Rocha announced her return is soon and also shared that she won a battle with cervical cancer as her biggest victory of the season whether the Sooners win another national title or not. She also thanked OU fans for all their thoughts and prayers and well wishes during her fight.
Sooners pitching coach returning after cancer battle
"Since the beginning of the year, it's really been a tough year for my family and I, but knowing that you all are out there supporting me, again, has just meant so much," Rocha said. "And so I'm happy to report that our wonderful doctors at OU Health and Medical Center, between what they can do, and your prayers and what I know God did, I'm happy to report that I am cancer free and I will be returning to the field very soon."
all love, Sooner Nation ☝️
— Oklahoma Softball (@OU_Softball) March 26, 2026
great news from Coach Rocha 💌 pic.twitter.com/XCCXSnbX2Y
Rocha did not give a specific return date, but News 9's Toby Rowland reported on Thursday that Rocha is expected to return this weekend for the Sooners' three-game SEC series at LSU. During Rocha's absence, OU head coach Patty Gasso brought in former Sooners pitcher Karlie Keeney as an interim coach. Gasso had announced Rocha's temporary departure on the same day as the Sooners' season opener and eventually emphasized how important Rocha is to the program.
"She is always the calm voice, the reasonable voice, the faith-based voice, the thought-out thoughtful voice," Gasso said then. "It's just, she is too wonderful of a person to be a coach. That's horrible, but coaches are ruthless. We want to win at all costs. Sometimes you just forget who you are, and she never does. And she never lets us as a coaching staff forget who we are. She just always keeps our feet on the ground, keeps us in check."
The Sooners' pitching staff struggled early in the season without Rocha, but has since turned things around with a team ERA of 2.71 as OU rides a 21-game winning streak and is 32-2 overall. The return of Rocha down the stretch is a massive gain for the Sooners that will result in instant improvements even while already playing great softball, especially with so many newcomers on OU's staff.
However, the greatest news is that Rocha is healthy and even able to coach again so soon.
"I'm just so grateful to be able to have the opportunity to represent Oklahoma to be able to share my gifts with all of our players and our staff," Rocha said. "What we do as coaches is more than just winning championships, and so I'm really happy that I can continue to help our student-athletes use their gifts and their talents to be able to represent us and help them grow."