As he heads down the homestretch of his collegiate career, Hendricken graduate Jarek Krajewski has finally found his hitting stroke for Plymouth State after experiencing a prolonged slump at the plate.

After spending much of the season hitting below the Mendoza Line, the former Hawk recently boosted his batting average by embarking on a 13-game hit streak which included five doubles, five home runs and 18 runs batted in.

Krajewski started the run in nondescript fashion, going 1-for-4 and knocking home a run in the Panthers’ 6-5 setback to Saint Joseph’s of Maine on April 17.

He then kicked things into high gear the next day with a 2-for-4 performance with a season-high five runs driven in as Plymouth State scored six runs in the ninth to transform a 10-5 deficit to an unlikely 11-10 triumph over Keene State.

The high-water mark of Krajewski’s streak came on April 23 in a 20-5 rout of New England College as he smashed a pair of two-run home runs to pace the Panthers.

Thanks in large part to the latter two performances, the senior first baseman was tabbed as the Little East Conference’s player of the week, earning the honor by also batting at a .391 clip during that particular stretch.

The following week saw Krajewski shorten his stroke at the dish, keeping the ball in the yard by picking up five doubles, including a pair in last Thursday’s rematch against Keene State, the Owls exacting revenge by a 5-3 score.

However, all good things must come to an end, and Krajewski’s streak came to a halt on Sunday, failing to reach base in his three at-bats in the second game of Plymouth State’s doubleheader versus Bates.

During the streak, he was able to increase his batting average on the season to .244, marking an improvement of more than 70 points, with it reaching a respectable .318 once only conference games are considered.

Krajewski and the Panthers will now wrap up the regular season with a five-game homestand starting Tuesday afternoon with a single game against Tufts before doubleheaders versus Lyndon State and Rhode Island College later in the week.

Former Pilgrim standouts leading the way for RIC

Pilgrim products Destinee Barrette and Melanie Brunelle won a pair of events each at Saturday’s New England Alliance Championships in Westfield, Massachusetts, which also served as the Little East Conference’s championship meet.

Both athletes helped Rhode Island College to a 113-point haul in the team competition, good for second among LEC schools.

Barrette ascended to the top of the podium in the hammer throw by setting a new program and meet record with a 52.53-meter toss and later claimed more hardware by taking out top honors in the discus with an effort of 33.10 meters.

The former Patriot received one more honor days after the meet, as the Little East selected her its women’s field athlete of the week in recognition of her record-breaking day.

While Barrette had the throws covered, Brunelle was making sure that her performance in the jumps would not go unnoticed.

She also went on to set a meet record, doing so in the triple jump with a leap of 11.76 meters, before clearing 1.57 meters in the high jump to pick up her second victory of the day.

Brunelle also competed in three more events at the meet, finishing fourth in the long jump and crossing the line eighth in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles.