![Florida's outfielder Hayden Yost (16) with the throw to second from the outfield Friday, May 3, 2024, at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida. The Gators fell to Tennessee 6-2 in the first game of the doubleheader. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2024](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_274,w_1520,h_855/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01jmmjt26axa38hzdvqq.jpg "Florida's outfielder Hayden Yost (16) with the throw to second from the outfield Friday, May 3, 2024, at Condron Family Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida. The Gators fell to Tennessee 6-2 in the first game of the doubleheader. [Cyndi Chambers/ Gainesville Sun] 2024")
Coming into the 2025 season, Hayden Yost wasn't expected to be a mainstay in the Florida Baseball lineup. The sophomore from Tampa wasn't a starter on opening day and was expected to rotate in as needed along the outfield.
But Yost has been called upon early, and while Brody Donay has been getting all the headlines, it turns out Yost has been Florida's second-best hitter one week into the season.
Florida Baseball: Opportunity Knocks
With Ty Evans dealing with a minor injury, Yost has been the starter in right field for the last three games. The end result has been 7 for 14 hitting, with three doubles and five RBIs.
His .500 batting average is second-best on the team among eligible hitters, and his OPS of 1.277 is third-best.
It's not like Yost was inserted into the lineup as a charity case. While he was a rotational guy last year who wound up getting inserted as a full-time starter in late April. He finished his freshman campaign hitting .284 with a .400 on-base percentage.
Yost adds to the logjam of outfielders the Gators appear to have in 2025, with Kyle Jones, Blake Cyr, Justin Nadeau, and Ashton Wilson all pushing for at-bats as well.
Up Next
Florida is slated for a three-game series against Dayton this weekend. Florida will use the same trio of starting pitchers they did against Air Force, with Liam Peterson, Jake Clemente, and Pierce Coppola all slated to take the bump.
Dayton is 2-2 on the season and is coming off a 32-22 season as part of the Atlantic 10. This will be the first ever time that Florida and Dayton have squared off in baseball.
First pitch on Friday is at 6:30. The teams will meet again on Saturday at 4:00 PM before the series finale will be on Sunday at 12:00 PM.