Web Bio Cleanup

2012 (Senior): Named First-Team All-Horizon League at designated hitter after leading the league in batting average (.385), on-base percentage (.466) and slugging percentage (.578)... Missed 14 games from March 20 to April 13 with an injured shoulder... Started all 41 games he appeared in... Led YSU with 16 doubles and 44 RBIs despite missing 14 games... Batted .354 against league opponents during the regular season... Hit a blistering .419 against right-handers, .387 with runners in scoring position and .403 with two outs... Established new career highs in RBIs, total bases, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and walks while matching his previous high in home runs... Named the Horizon League Batter of the Week three times - March 6, March 12, and April 30... Batted .462 and was named to the all-tournament team at the Austin Peay Riverview Inn Classic during the week leading up to March 6... Reached base seven times in a 10-inning loss to Iowa, hitting a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth, singling three times and walking three times... Followed that up by hitting .545 with three homers, two doubles and eight RBIs in a three-game series at VMI the following week to repeat as the league’s batter of the week... Also named the Central Region Player of the Week by CollegeBaseballInsider.com on March 14... Earned his third weekly honor by the league by hitting .636 and reaching base at least twice in each game of a three-game sweep over UIC...Started the season by posting multiple hits in his first five games and in 10 of his first 17... All five of his home runs came in his first 13 games, including two at VMI on March 11... Delivered a walk-off single in the 11th inning to lead YSU to a 4-3 win over Milwaukee on March 18... Was injured during the postgame celebration and went on to miss 14 games... Finished the campaign with 18 multi-hit games and drove in at least two runs in a team-best 10 games... Hit safely in 17 consecutive games from April 22 to May 25... Had four hits twice - at VMI on March 4 and against UIC on April 29.

2011 (Junior): One of two players to play in and start all 55 games... 53 starts came at first base, and two were at designated hitter... Batted a team-best .300 while adding team-highs with three home runs, 64 hits, 26 RBIs, 83 total bases and a .390 slugging percentage... Added eight doubles and a triple... Hit .319 in Horizon League play and .400 over four games in the conference tournament... Compiled a fielding percentage of.991, committing four errors in 458 chances... Hit a team-high .327with runners in scoring position... Led the Penguins with 20multi-hit games and tied for top honors with six multi-RBI games...Seven of those multi-hit games came in 16 contests in May...Reached base in the final nine games of the season... Hit two of his homers at Ohio (5/3)... Also homered at home against Milwaukee when he went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored (5/7)...Also had four hits at Xavier... Scored two runs seven times... Had multiple hits five times in a six-game span from March 26 to April 3 to raise his average 48 points... Stole five bases, matching the total from his freshman year... Walked 22 times while striking out just 17 times, the lowest among all players with more than 75 at-bats.

2010 (Sophomore): Played in 51 games and started 43 contests at first base... Hit a career-best .313while also setting career highs with five home runs, 12 doubles, 36runs scored, 37 RBIs and a .475 slugging percentage... Became only the third Penguin in a decade to hit .300 as both a freshman and sophomore... Had 22 walks and 22 strikeouts in 2010, and has 41walks against 39 strikeouts in his first two seasons... Batted.353 with 27 runs, four homers and 26 RBIs in 33 games over the final two months... Posted 13 multi-hit games, 11 multi-RBI games, and six multi-run contests... Hit home runs in bunches - the first two came in a three-game span from March 30 to April 2, and the last three came over seven games from April 30 to May 14... Hit a three-run shot at Duquesne (3/30) and a two-run homer versus UIC(4/2)... Hit a two-run homer at Wright State (4/30)... Hit a game-winning two-run blast with two outs in the top of the 11th to beat Cleveland State (5/7)... His fifth homer led off the fifth inning at Valpo (5/14)... Matched his career high with four hits in the season opener at New Orleans (2/27)... Scored a career-best four runs against Duquesne (4/7)... Doubled twice, tripled, and walked while driving in three runs against the Dukes... Drove in a season-best four runs at Duquesne (3/30)... Recorded a season-best eight-game hitting streak from April 21-30... Also hit in seven straight games from March 27 to April 7... Was held hitless in back-to-back games just three times... Hit safely in 19 of the final 21 contests.... Started April by going 10-for-18 with 10RBIs, eight runs scored and five doubles in four games... Had three hits four times, three runs twice and three RBIs four times.

2009 (Freshman): Played in 45 games and started 33... Batted .302 with four home runs, 29 runs scored, and 30 RBIs... His home run and RBI totals were the highest by a freshman since YSU career record holder Erich Diedrich hit six homers and drove in 33 in 2005... Was even better against Horizon League competition, batting .324 with three homers, a .465 slugging percentage, and a team-best 15 RBIs... Hit safely in the final 11games of the season and in 14 of the final 15... Batted .439 with 18 RBIs and 13 runs scored over the final 11 games... Increased his batting average 67 points over that span... Also batted .323against righties, .348 with runners in scoring position and .395with two outs... His 17 two-out RBIs were a team-high... Finished with eight multi-RBI games, which ranked second on the team, eight multi-hit games and five multi-run games... Homered three times in a four-game span from May 2-8, including both games of a doubleheader on May 8 against Wright State.... Hit a three-run homer and matched a career-high with four RBIs at Valpo (5/2)...Also drove in four against Buffalo in the regular season finale(5/13)... Scored a career-high three runs at Valpo (5/2)... Had a career-high four hits - three singles and a double - against Butler in the Horizon League Tournament... Hit a walk-off, game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth against Cleveland State (4/11)...Scored the winning run in the seventh at Marshall (3/15)... Homered for the first time in his career at Akron (3/18)... Drew threw walks twice and two walks three times.

High School: Earned three letters... named First-Team All-Ohio in Division II at first base and member of the Mizuno All-Ohio Series his senior year... Also named the Division II Eastern District Player of the Year and the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Class AAAA Player of the Year as a senior... Hit .590with 35 RBIs, four homers and 38 runs scored to go along with a 7-2record on the mound... Drew 29 walks and struck out only four times... Named to the OVAC all-star team... As a junior, he batted .359 with three home runs and 23 RBIs for the Big Red... Hit .373with four homers, 14 doubles and eight triples in 66 games for American Legion Post 33 in the 2007 summer... Was also a standout football player for the Big Red, who won the Division III state title his freshman and sophomore seasons... Was an All-OVAC selection as a tight end and linebacker.

Personal: Son of Joel and Joyce Banks...Has four brothers (Joel Jr., Justin, Joshua and James) and one sister (Jamie)... Justin played baseball for the Penguins from 2003-06 and ranks among YSU's top five career-best hitters in hits, RBIs, doubles, at bats and total bases... Major is accounting...Born June 7, 1990... Recipient of the 2011-12 Mayberry Scholarship.

Career Stats