Down in the count 0-2 with two outs in the top of the ninth inning on the road at No. 1 North Carolina and with Penn State trailing by one run in an early-season game last year, Rob Yodice put together quite possibly the at-bat of the year for the Nittany Lions. He was able to battle back to a full count and on the 12th pitch of the at-bat, he slammed his first home run of his Penn State career to tie the game that the Nittany Lions would go on to win in extra innings. That hit was just the first of several more clutch hits last year for Rob last year. He hit .600 with the bases loaded last year and was among the team leaders in scoring runners from third with less than two outs. Yodice will figure to back up Joe Blackburn at catcher and he will also be the primary DH and also has the ability to play the infield.
Summer 2007: Played catcher as well as some infield for the Metro NY Cadets of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League....Got six hits, including four doubles in 31 at bats in only 13 games of action, including 11 starts....Drove in two runs and had a stolen base in his only attempt.
'Rob is the ultimate team player. There is nothing he wouldn[apos]t do or sacrifice for his teammates. When it comes down to it, he shows up ready to play and wants to win more than anything. Yodi came in last year and had an immediate impact for us as one of our most clutch hitters. He also played well this fall and continues to be a clubhouse leader. This season he will DH for us as well as see some time behind the plate. Either way, we anticipate having him in the everyday lineup. Rob is a lot of fun to coach and has proven what kind of player and person he is.'
From the Coaches[apos] Suite
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2007 (Junior): Rotated with Joe Blackburn between catcher and DH for most of the year....A good fielding catcher, he committed only two errors in 94 chances behind the dish....Nearly 40 percent of his 34 hits (13, 38.2 percent) were extra-base hits....Third on the team in home runs with three....Put his name into the records books by recording the first run, first triple, and the first home run at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park....Finished the season strong as he hit in 13 of his last 20 games, including in four of five games in the Big Ten Tournament.....Had four RBIs in the Big Ten Tournament.
Game-by-Game Highlights: Got his first Penn State hit at No. 1 North Carolina as he went 1-for-4 with a run in the series opener vs. the Tar Heels (3-2)....With two outs in the ninth inning, worked a 12-pitch at bat that ended in a game-tying home run to right center field to send the game into extra innings as Penn State later won in extra innings over North Carolina (3-3) in the second game of that series. Went 2-for-4 in that game as well....Came up with more long ball heroics as he hit the first pinch hit home run by a Penn State hitter since 2002 with a pinch hit grand slam to tie the game once again at Oral Roberts (3-16)....Started at catcher in the first game at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park and went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI and runs vs. Central Connecticut (3-23)....Drove in three runs for his third straight multi-RBI game and went 2-for-3 in the second game of the CCSU series (3-24)....Helped Penn State to a win in the series opener at Iowa with a 2-for-3 performance with an RBI (4-6)....Scored three runs despite not getting a hit as he drew three walks in six plate appearances vs. Temple (4-11)....Went 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI and a double vs. Mount St. Mary[apos]s (4-18)....Had two RBI and went 2-for-3 and also recorded a season-high nine putouts vs. Duquesne (4-24)....Went 4-for-8, 2-for-4 in each game in two starts in the Indiana series, including a three-RBI game in the series finale (4-29)....Had two RBI and scored two runs while going 1-for-1 in the series finale win over Michigan (5-13)....Went 1-for-3 and had the eventual game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to put Penn State up against Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament (5-24)....Went 1-for-4 and had the bases-clearing, three-run double in the top of the eighth innings that put Penn State up for good in the Big Ten Tournament win over Illinois (5-25).
Gulf Coast CC (Sophomore): Helped lead Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla. to a 40-10 record and a #2 national ranking under head coach Mike Kandler....Helped lead the Commodores to the Florida Community College state tournament....Was named second team All-Panhandle Conference and helped lead the team to a conference co-championship....Played in 49 games and hit .300) with four home runs and 31 RBI and a .440 slugging percentage....Scored 34 runs and had 13 doubles....Drew 34 walks and had just 18 strikeouts and a .422 on base percentage....Made just two errors in 282 total chances in the field for a .993 fielding percentage and also threw out 11 runners attempting to steal in 26 total attempts.
Florida Atlantic (Freshman): Played in 25 games, starting eight of them, and hit .257 with one home run and five RBI for the Owls....Had nine hits in 35 at bats, scored five runs and had a .400 slugging percentage....Also was perfect in the field in 39 total chances.
Xavierian HS: Played for head coach Dennis Canale at Xavierian High School in Brooklyn, N.Y....Hit .400 with four home runs and 30 RBI as a senior....Was named first team All-City by the Daily News....Was ranked the #1 prep player in the state of New York by Baseball America as a senior and was ranked 151 in the top 200 in the nation as well as 10th overall of all catchers in the country....Won a summer league World Series Championship with the Bayside Yankees in 2003.
Background: Robert Anthony Yodice was born on January 31, 1986 in Staten Island, N.Y....He is the son of Robert Yodice and the late Kathleen Yodice....His father played in the New York Mets[apos] system from 1965-69....Rob is majoring in business and would like to play professional baseball before becoming a commodities broker.