Kayla Kowalik

Personal: Kowalik was named assistant softball coach at Texas Tech on September 3, 2024. She earned All-State honors in both volleyball and softball during high school and also lettered in track and field. She majored in management and accounting at Kentucky. Her twin sister, Gabbie, played softball at Saint Louis from 2019 to 2023, graduating as the Billikens’ all-time leader in runs scored and triples. Kowalik credits her high school coach, Holly Blackman, as someone who has made a difference in her life. She models her game after Natasha Watley. Growing up, she also competed in volleyball, basketball, and track and field. Her hobbies include reading, creating charcuterie boards and music playlists, and spending time with her border collie, Stevie. She has worn No. 99 since she was eight years old.

2024 Championship Season: Kowalik tallied 1,020 leaderboard points, including 760 win points. She started in 13 of 14 games, posting a .333 batting average with 14 hits, including two doubles and a triple. Kowalik drove in two runs and scored five runs. She was one of five players in the league to register two sacrifice bunts. She secured MVP 3 accolades with a season-high 190 leaderboard points after going 3-for-4 with a double against Team Corrick on August 24. Kowalik also garnered Defensive MVP status with 160 leaderboard points in the season finale against Team Ocasio. Additionally, she collected 160 leaderboard points in the Week Two opener against Team Wallace. Kowalik posted five games with 100 or more leaderboard points, including three of her final four outings.

2024 AUX Season: Kowalik accumulated 810 leaderboard points, including 680 win points and 110 stat points, while making her Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball debut. She was a starter in 9-of-10 outings while batting .241 with seven hits, including two doubles. Additionally, she scored six runs. Kowalik opened her Athletes Unlimited career by going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a double against Team Leach to secure MVP 3 honors and 160 leaderboard points. She also hit a double against Team Alo on June 17 en route to a 110-point performance and notched 110 leaderboard points against Team Alo on June 23.

2023 Championship Season: Kowalik was one of 14 players selected in the Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball College Draft. 

Other Professional Experience: Kowalik was selected as the eighth overall pick in the 2023 Women’s Professional Fastpitch Draft by USSSA Pride. She earned All-WPF Team honors after leading the league with 14 stolen bases over 34 games. Kowalik authored a .394 batting average with one home run and 10 runs batted in. Additionally, she scored 27 runs with seven doubles while drawing 11 walks. She posted 13 multi-hit games, including a season-high four hits against Oklahoma City on July 21, 2023. Kowalik also went 3-for-4 with three runs scored against Oklahoma City on July 30, 2023.

International Experience: Kowalik was a member of the Team USA roster for the 2022 Japan All-Star Series. She performed impressively, hitting .286 with a double and scoring a run. Additionally, Kowalik played a key role in leading Team USA to the 2022 Canada Cup title. During the tournament, she maintained a .250 batting average (5-for-20) with a home run, three runs batted in, and six runs scored. 

At Kentucky: Kowalik is a five-year letter winner at Kentucky who started 252-of-253 games for the Wildcats from 2019-23. She compiled a school-record .424 career batting average with 21 home runs and 126 runs batted in. Kowalik finished her career as Kentucky’s all-time leader in hits (353), triples (24), runs scored (262) and total bases (508). She stands third on the Wildcats’ career games played ledger and also holds 10th place on the career runs batted in list. Kowalik is one of three players in Kentucky with 80 or more career stolen bases. She owns Kentucky single-season records for hits, runs scored, total bases, and triples. 

Kowalik was named to the NFCA, D1Softball, and Softball America All-America Second Team as a fifth-year senior. She is a two-time NFCA First-Team All-Southeast Region performer and earned First-Team All-Southeastern Conference and SEC All-Defensive Team distinction in each of her final two seasons. Kowalik was a First-Team College Sports Communicators Academic All-America selection as a fifth-year senior. She was a Top 25 Finalist for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award and paced the Wildcats with a .442 batting average. Kowalik also tallied a team-high 80 hits while starting all 54 games as a fifth-year senior. 

She matched the Kentucky single-game record with five hits against Washington on Feb. 23, 2023, while becoming the program’s career hits leader. Kowalik boasted a .420 batting average as a senior with 21 multi-hit games. She was a starter in all 56 games and tallied seven home runs with 28 runs batted in. Kowalik also became Kentucky’s career runs scored leader against Long Island University on Feb. 25, 2022. She was the SEC hitting champion during the 2021 campaign with a .495 average and also belted a career-high 12 home runs with 37 runs batted in. Kowalik scored a school-record five runs against NC Central on Feb. 20, 2021. She also established a program record with a 23-game hitting streak from March 13-April 25, 2021. 

Kowalik led NCAA Division I with eight triples during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, including five triples during The Spring Games tournament. She batted .373 with 31 runs scored over 24 games as a sophomore and was a starter in 59-of-60 outings as a freshman who accumulated 66 hits, including eight doubles and five triples. Kowalik also stole 14-of-17 bases during the 2019 campaign to earn a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team.