At first, Jason Curry fretted about his injured right wrist.

He wondered how far it would set him back. He wondered what would happen if he could never swing the bat the same way again.

When Curry, a Slippery Rock High School graduate and senior right fielder for the Slippery Rock University baseball team, was hit on his right wrist by a pitch in a Florida instructional league this summer, he thought, "What could be worse?"

It ended up being for the better.

Not able to swing a bat, Curry focused on the mechanics of hitting. What he found was a lot of holes that needed to be filled.

"It was kind of like a blessing," Curry said.

Curry was able to shore up his swing, and when he finally returned to The Rock lineup two weeks ago, he served notice that he was back in form.

Curry was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Player of the Week during his first week back., hitting .500 (12-of-24) with three home runs, three doubles, 12 runs scored and 10 RBI.

It was a scintillating start for a player coming off an injury and a poor junior season.

And it dispelled some of his doubts and the doubts of his coach.

"I think it was a coin flip what we were going to get from him this season," said SRU baseball coach Jeff Messer. "I was a little bit unsure. He hurt his wrist, he didn't come back healthy in the fall - we were a little worried."

It didn't take long for Curry to allay those fears.

In his first game back, Curry showed the aggressiveness and power he displayed during his stellar sophomore season.

That year, Curry was the team MVP, hitting .331 with four homers and 21 RBI.

But last year, when everyone around him was producing at a feverish clip, Curry struggled from the start.

He hit just .230 and had only one home run on a team that batted .333 and belted 42 homers in 61 games.

An 0-for-15 start sabotaged Curry's season and opened him up to a plethora of bad habits at the plate.

"It kind of was like a mental block," Curry said. "I don't know what happened. I wasn't able to focus and be aggressive.

"I think because I started off so slow, I spent the whole year trying to play catch-up," he added.

Messer was a witness to that, too. He tried everything to get Curry going again. He shuffled him around in the order and tried to pick spots to use his right fielder to get him out of his doldrums."Last year he slumped and put a lot of pressure on himself," Messer said. "He wasn't aggressive and he was thinking too much. He wasn't using his natural ability."Through it all, Curry remained steady in right field, showcasing a strong right arm and covering a lot of ground."I was always taught to not carry your at-bats out to the field with you," Curry said. "I felt if I couldn't help the team at the plate like I wanted to, I could help the team in the field."Now, Curry is helping The Rock not only with the glove, but also with his bat.He entered Tuesday's doubleheader with Shippensburg hitting .447 with three homers and 11 RBI in just 38 at-bats.His aggressiveness is back."He works very, very hard on his swing," Messer said. "It is paying off for him - and us - right now. He's been a catalyst in our offense."And he's also moved up in the order.Curry entered the lineup this year hitting eighth. Against Shippensburg Tuesday, he hit cleanup in both contests.Curry's next step is to carry his early success through the season."I look at guys like Manny Ramirez and Albert Pujols," Curry said. "They are so consistent. I'm trying to be consistent."Baseball is a weird game. You can go 3-for-4 one day and 0-for-4 the next. They key is being able to bounce back from the 0-for-4 quickly. That's what I'm trying to do."