SLIPPERY ROCK — Kirsten Brant was a potent hitter when she arrived at Slippery Rock University.

As a member of the Knoch softball team, Brant was a star for four years and helped build the Knights program from a winless team in her first season to a WPIAL playoff team in her final two.

She batted .585 with four home runs as a senior.

Yet the first thing Rock softball coach Vashion Johnson did when Brant showed up was change her swing.

"At first I was shocked," Brant said.

But the freshman shortstop recruit listened. As she talked to teammates, they told her Johnson changes everyone's swing.

It was by no means easy. In the fall, Brant could be found flailing away at pitches. Her new approach felt unnatural and forced.

Then, suddenly, it became second nature. It became natural.

"It was really, really frustrating at first," Brant said. "But what was I going to do? I wasn't going to say no to him. His teams hit a lot of home runs."

And now so does Brant.

Just 21 games into her freshman campaign, Brant is batting .328 with three home runs and a team-leading 16 RBI.

The new swing has helped Brant handle inside pitches better. Instead of fouling them off, Brant is turning on them and putting them into play.

Instead of flicking her wrists to get power, she is exploding her bat through the hitting zone with improved speed.

"High school hitters are taught to hit line drives," Johnson said. "In college, ground balls are outs. We have to teach them to drive the ball over the infield."

And over the fence. The Rock has hit 17 home runs this season.

Brant has hit just about everywhere in that potent lineup, but she has settled into the No. 5 hole after spending some time at No. 3.

To Brant, it doesn't matter where she hits in the lineup.

"There's no pressure, really, no matter where I bat," Brant said. "If I get on base, I know I'll advance or score. I think he's still trying to find a balance. He's still messing with the lineup. I could end up hitting eighth, but it really doesn't matter."

Brant wasn't heavily recruited despite her stellar career.

"I really didn't put myself out there," Brant said.

But Johnson had his eye on her for two seasons.

"She already could hit the ball over the fence," Johnson said. "I'm really proud of the way she is playing."

Brant has been just as solid in the field.

Like the repetition it took for Brant to learn her new swing, repetition in the field has helped her.

Even if it gets tiring at times.

At practice Monday, Johnson peppered Brant with more than 100 ground balls in rapid-fire fashion.

"He really kicked my butt," Brant said. "He hit six buckets of balls at me nonstop. In college, you practice how you play. I was tired and my legs were giving out."

That was Johnson's master plan.

"She's thinking about 100 things when she's fielding the ball," Johnson said. "She needs to slow down and not go so fast. She was starting to get that around the fifth bucket. When she got tired and slowed down, she was flawless."

Johnson's arrival in 2003 meant almost immediate improvement. The Rock has posted winning records in three of the last four years and is in first place in the PSAC West early in 2009.

Being part of a burgeoning program is nothing new to Brant. That was what made SRU such a big draw for the biology major.

"It is definitely going in the right direction," Brant said. "People are starting to notice SRU."