Florida Gators sophomore outfielder Hayden Yost was named the sole recipient of SEC Player of the Week on Monday afternoon after a stellar weekend against the Gamecocks in Columbia, South Carolina.
Monday’s announcement marks Yost’s first SEC weekly accolade. Florida has now claimed six SEC weekly awards as a team this season with Yost representing the fourth different Gator to earn recognition.
Yost went 5-10 (.500) at the plate with eight RBI vs the Gamecocks, which led the entire SEC last weekend. Yost drove in multiple runs in all three games of the Gators’ first sweep at South Carolina since 1996, including their first road sweep overall since 2021. Yost added at least one hit and scored two runs in all three contests over the weekend.
Entering the weekend with one home run on the 2025 season, Yost launched a two-run blast in both game one and game three of the series, marking the first multi-home run series of his career.
In total, Yost tallied five hits, two home runs, eight RBI, six runs, three walks, and stole two bags while playing elite defense in center field vs South Carolina.
“Another guy that kind of gets overlooked sometimes is Hayden Yost,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan said after the series. “He swung the bat extremely well today and his home run there really opened up the second game.”
The Tampa, Florida native is unique story after his heartbreaking ending to the 2024 season. Just after he cemented himself as a significant contributor in his freshman campaign, Yost suffered a torn ACL during a practice session ahead of Florida’s final weekend series of the regular season vs Georgia. After a speedy recovery, Yost was ready to go by opening night of 2025. While he wasn’t in the opening day lineup, Yost eventually anchored down the center field position after Kyle Jones’ season ending injury, holding a .279 batting average in 147 at bats.