Each week during the University of Kansas’ winter and spring sports seasons, the Journal-World staff will select one athlete from a KU men’s sports team and one from a women’s sports team as athletes of the week.
For the week of May 5-11, the selections are Mike Koszewski and Lyla Louderbaugh.
Mike Koszewski, baseball
The fifth-year senior outfielder from the Chicagoland area was inserted into the starting lineup for the second and third games of KU’s series against BYU — both wins — as he received his first starts since Feb. 22. The decision to deploy Koszewski paid off in spades for head coach Dan Fitzgerald as Koszewski went 2-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs on Friday and then hit a walk-off single on Saturday in the home finale. Koszewski has seen his role diminish dramatically compared to his first two years in Lawrence but has played pivotal innings as a late-game defensive replacement and contributed key offense against the Cougars.
Lyla Louderbaugh, women’s golf
The first-ever two-time recipient of KUsports.com Athlete of the Week — because there simply could have been no other choice this week — the sophomore Louderbaugh became KU’s first-ever regional champion in Columbus, Ohio, winning by a dominant eight-stroke margin for the first title of her career. In doing so, she also led the Jayhawks to a team title and a long-awaited berth in the NCAA Championship, which begins on Friday.
