Updated 2012 Stats 2011, 12 ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN 2012 (JUNIOR YEAR)
Started 50 games at second for the Nittany Lions...Compiled a .254 season batting average and .338 on-base percentage...Scored 18 runs and notched 20 RBI on 36 hits...Named team Defensive Player of the Year and squad MVP...Scored one run with a hit against Notre Dame (2/25)...Went 1-for-2 with 2 RBI against LIU Brooklyn (3/2)...Scored one run against North Carolina State (3/3)...Pushed one run across the plate with a hit against Auburn (3/4)...Scored a run and hit 2-for-2 to send home a pair of runners against Virginia Tech before going 3-for-3 against South Florida (3/9)...Scored a run and hit a double for one RBI vs. Central Connecticut (3/10)...Hit a double and scored a run against Louisiana-Lafayette (3/16)...Hit a double for an RBI in the second game of the doubleheader against Pittsburgh (4/3)...Logged her first home run blast of the season during a 3-for-4 effort at the plate in the second game of the doubleheader against Michigan State (4/7), also scoring three runs with three RBI ...Hit two doubles and batted in two runs in the first game against Indiana and went 2-for-3 with two runs in the second game (4/14)...Scored one run and hit 2-for-4 to bat in three runs at Kent State (4/25)...Stole a base and hit a single for one RBI in the first game against Minnesota (4/28)...Had two RBI off a single against Minnesota (4/29)...Scored one run and hit a double to plate one runner in the second game against Ohio State (5/11)...Academic All-Big Ten.
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2011 (SOPHOMORE YEAR)
Started 54 games at second base, averaging .215 at the plate wtih 31 hits, 13 walks, 11 RBI, six doubles and a home run...Opened the year with an RBI single vs. Tulsa (2/18)...Tallied a single vs. Long Island (2/19)...Singled in three straight games against Tulsa (2/20), FIU (2/26) and Georgetown (2/26), scoring once against FIU...Singled in four at-bats against Miami (Ohio) on Mar. 4...Contributed an RBI double in a 6-4 win over Jacksonville State (3/6) with two runs scored...Went 1-for-2 with a single and a walk vs. Bowling Green (3/11)...Went 1-for-2 with a walk at Georgia Tech (3/12)...Had a 1-for-3 day, notching second double of the year vs. Belmont (3/13)...Had an excellent doubleheader at Michigan State (4/6) goin ga combined 3-for-7 with a huge two-run, game-tying home run in the nightcap, totalling a career-high six bases in the game...Strung together a nine-game hitting streak from Apr. 13 vs. Kent State to the first game of the Longwood series (4/24)...Went 2-for-5 in a doubleheader vs. Kent State (4/13) with an RBI...Had a 3-for-6 effort in a doubleheader sweep of Buffalo (4/14), driving in two runs...Knocked home the game-winning run at Minnesota (4/17)...Went 3-for-6 in a doubleheader against then-No. 1 Michigan (4/20) with an RBI and a double...Had a 2-for-3 afternoon at Iowa (5/7)...Had a career game in the opener of a doubleheader at Ohio State (5/11), going 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI...Backed that performance up with a 1-for-4 nightcap at OSU (5/11) with a run scored...Went 1-for-3 against Northwestern (5/13)...Made NCAA Regional debut against Fordham (5/20)...Made a career-high five at-bats against Fordham (5/21). 2010 (FRESHMAN YEAR)
Saw time in 38 games with 26 starts splitting time between second base and the designated player position...Recorded 11 hits going .204 at the plate with a homer, triple double and seven RBI...Notched two sacrifice flies and stole three bases...Started first four games of the season at second base, scoring two runs vs. UTEP (2/12)...Went 1-for-3 with a single and RBI sacrifice fly vs. Colorado State (2/12)...Went 1-for-3 vs. Western Kentucky (2/19)...Had an RBI sacrifice fly vs. Utah State (2/20), currently leads the Big Ten in sacrifice flies...Started two games at the ECU Pirate Classic (2/27-28) at second base...Started two games at second base against South Florida (3/7) and Central Michigan (3/9)...Scored a run in pinch hitting role vs. Saint Joseph's (3/10), the second game against Saint Francis (3/24) and both games vs. Minnesota (3/27)...Earned a pair of pinch-hit walks in doubleheader at Kent State (3/31)...Made pinch-running appearance at Purdue (4/3)...Made two pinch-hitting appearances vs. Pittsburgh (4/6), earning a walk in Game One and eventually scoring before garnering a bases-loaded RBI hit-by-pitch in Game Two...Made pinch-hitting appearances at Wisconsin (4/11) and in the first game vs. Michigan State (4/14)...Belted first collegiate extra-base hit, a triple, in Game Two vs. Michigan State (4/14), eventually scoring on a sac fly to tie the game up before reaching base on a HBP...Went 1-for-1 with an RBI single in the sixth inning and later stole a base while adding a HBP and a sacrifice vs. Illinois (4/18)...Went 2-for-4 with two runs scored vs. Iowa (4/24)...Added another two-hit day with a 2-for-3 performance with a run scored vs. Iowa (4/25)...Went 1-for-2, hitting first collegiate home run, a sixth-inning go-ahead blast at Northwestern (5/1), while adding two walks...Went 1-for-3 with a run scored and a two-run double...Notched a 1-for-4 day at Indiana (5/14). BEFORE PENN STATE
Member of 2006 CIF Champions, while being named conference Player of the Year...Named All-CIF in 2006-08...Named Cantwell Sacred Heart Player of the Year coached by Omar Villalta...Four-year letterwinner in softball...Finished in the top 10 of graduating class...Member of California Cruisers club squad coached by Melvin Sievers...Cruisers finished seventh at 18U Gold Nationals in 2008 and 2009. PERSONAL
Lauren Konomi Yao was born April 7, 1991 in Whittier, Calif. to Kenneth and Christine Yao...Proud cancer survivor of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), which has been in remission for over 14 years. QUOTING YAO ON PENN STATE
'I chose Penn State because I knew that the school had a great atmosphere and plenty of opportunities for me.' QUOTING COACH PETRINI ON YAO
'Lauren has really grown in her two years as a Nittany Lion. She is extremely quick and instinctual to the ball on defense. I have seen her make plays that continue to amaze me. Offensively, she has worked even harder to become more consistent by minimizing the holes in her swing. She has an aggressive mentality that will serve her well in her junior year.'