UC Santa Barbara
2018: Played in 45 games while making 31 starts at catcher as a sophomore…Hit .244 (29-for-119) with 12 RBIs, 17 runs scored and seven doubles…Walked 14 times and had an on-base percentage of .372…Slugged .303…Hit in every spot in the order except ninth…Also made one start as the DH…Had eight multi-hit games and a pair of multi-RBI games…Went 3-for-4 three times during the season coming against Sacramento State (Mar. 17), Cal State Fullerton (Mar. 30) and Loyola Marymount (Apr. 10), all wins…Flawless behind the dish with a 1.000 fielding percentage…Threw out five would-be-base-stealers in 19 total attempts for a caught-stealing percentage of .263…Earned Big West All-Academic honors.
2017: As a true freshman, entered 11 games for the Gauchos making eight starts – all behind the dish ... Had four hits, all singles, in 26 at-bats for a .154 batting average ... Made his collegiate debut on Apr. 3 against Gonzaga, starting at catcher and going 0-2 ... Went on to collect his first NCAA hit on May 6 against UC Davis ... Recorded his only multi-hit game of the season on May 17 at USC, going 2-4 in a 6-5 Gaucho win ... Had one stolen base on one attempt ... Threw out three of his six attempted base-stealers while he was catching, a rate of 50% ... Didn't record an error ... Had a breakout summer offensively for the Medford Rogues of the Great West League, batting .360 with 13 extra-base hits in 34 games ... Added 27 RBIs for the Rogues.
High School (2012-16): Played three varsity seasons at El Camino Real Charter High School in West Hills, Calif. under head coach Josh Lienhard ... Played catcher, third base, and shortstop for the Conquistadores ... In his junior year, batted .432 with 41 hits, 11 doubles, and two home runs ... Was a three-time All-West Valley League First Team choice ... Was the 2015 LA City Section Player of the Year ... Named League MVP as a junior ... Earned Team MVP honors in 2015 and 2016 ... First Team All-City in his last two seasons .. Made the postseason all four of his years in the program ... Played JV football as a freshman ... Was a scholar-athlete.
Personal: Eric Lawrence Yang was born on Mar. 26, 1998 to parents Kenny and Lisa in Woodland Hills, Calif. ... Has one younger sister, Lucy ... Aspires to play in the MLB or be a stockbroker ... Roots for the Los Angeles Dodgers ... Stepbrothers is his favorite movie ... Likes to read Brave New World ... Dr. Seuss is his favorite writer ... Calls winning back-to-back city championships at Dodger Stadium his most memorable pre-UCSB sporting moment ... Listens to Lil Uzi and Future ... Plays FIFA and goes fishing, snowboarding, and surfing in his free time ... Connor McGregor is his favorite athlete ... Watches Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Planet Earth.
