PEMBROKE — Into late March, Jai Deese’s UNC Pembroke homecoming wasn’t quite going according to plan on the field. The Division-I transfer from North Carolina A&T was hitting below .200 for the season as she adjusted to playing different competition at the Division-II level.

Then it all clicked.

A hot streak over the last three weeks has sent Deese into the UNCP record books, setting the Braves’ single-season record with 14 home runs, with the rest of the season still left to pad the record.

“It’s been an interesting season. It’s been up and down,” Deese said. “We’ve faced a lot of adversity, but just to be able to overcome and end up having fun, and that’s been one of my biggest things this year because it is my last year playing, I just wanted to have fun and enjoy my time.”

Hitting home runs is definitely fun. So is a hot streak.

After the Braves’ March 21 games against USC Aiken, Deese was hitting .196 for the season with six home runs. In the 14 games since, she’s 17-for-40 at the plate with eight home runs and 24 or her 37 RBIs, elevating her season average some 69 points to .265.

“I knew it would be a big transition coming from D-1 and seeing faster pitching and coming to a D-2 and trying to adjust to the slowness of it,” Deese said. “Just talking to my coaches and trying to find different ways and different strategies for my at-bats and being able to find ways to stay back. And I think halfway through the season I finally was locked in, and got everything, and it’s just been me staying calm and knowing that I’m not going to get beat.”

Braves coach Stephanie Graziani says Deese is definitely an example of someone peaking at the right time to finish the season strong after a tough start.

“Regardless of where it is in the inning, she’s still competing, still fighting, still going after good pitches, and just developing in pitch selection,” Graziani said. “I think that’s been her big thing is finding the right pitches to go after. She has all or nothing; once she gets a hold of it, that ball should go, but she’s also had good hard ground balls as well that’s caused errors, caused havoc, so that’s what you want to see for sure.”

At the center of it all has been Deese’s uncommon power, hitting the ball out of the ballpark with frequency when she connects with one. It’s what has propelled her to break the previous program record of 12 set by Meredith Veglia in 2006.

“She puts everything behind her swing; there’s no hesitation,” Graziani said. “Even if she does miss the ball, it is still a very hard swing. What I appreciate is even if she did swing and miss, she remembers it, she stores it, and understands, OK, I’m not going to go after that pitch again, but still never draws back on her power, and how hard she swings. She is all in with every swing, so when she does make contact, it’s very hard, whether it’s in the air or on the ground.”

That power, Deese says, is the result of a lot of hard work off the field.

“I kind of expected (my power), because I love the weight room,” Deese said. “I’m big on lifting, and being able to transition that into my hitting has been a big difference for me, definitely coming from lifting all the time and using everything I’ve worked hard for.”

“She’s been honing in her craft in her swing and trying to figure out the right timing, so that’s a testament to her working here at practice, but off the field as well,” Graziani said. “I know she goes home and hits. So she’s putting in the work there too as well.”

As Deese has had a historic campaign, the Pembroke native has done so after returning home for her final year of eligibility after earning her degree at North Carolina A&T.

“I didn’t expect it to end up how it did,” Deese said. “I didn’t expect to break the record, I was just coming home for my dad. Watching him come out to the games, and everybody I grew up with, all the parents and everything, it’s been fun.”

Her father, William Deese, played baseball at UNCP from 1986-1990 and now coaches softball at Purnell Swett. He suggests he and Jai might be the only father-daughter combination to both hit a home run at UNCP.

“We wanted to be there out of high school, that was our No. 1, because as a parent it’s always nice for your children to go to your alma mater and be successful,” William Deese said. “I’m very proud, I was excited she decided to come home and excited that UNCP wanted her to play. It means a lot, I’ve been excited, because we work together, I work with her some, and she’s a part of Purnell Swett High School softball, she’s a part of my softball program during the summer.”

Jai has even done so wearing jersey No. 12 — the same jersey her father wore at UNCP. She calls 21 her “lucky number” after wearing it much of her playing career, but even that connects back to her dad.

“Growing up, me and my brother would switch between 12 and 21,” Jai Deese said. “My dad actually wore 12 out here when he played. So my brother wore 12 when we were younger, so we just flipped it and I wore 21, so it’s just been my thing since I was young.”

Jai Deese is one of four current Braves to play for William Deese at Purnell Swett, with Marijo Wilkes, Summer Bullard and Chloe Locklear also turning in strong campaigns for their hometown school.

“It brings a little more motivation, to have her family be at practically every game, regardless of where we go on the road or at home,” Graziani said. “Having the home environment, having that support, just brings a different character to the program as well all around. It’s felt homier, you can really feel the local enthusiasm here, and it’s a really nice additive to the team this year.”

Deese, a graduate student studying sports administration, hopes to pursue coaching after her UNCP career is complete, once again following in her father’s footsteps.

But for now, she’s got a few more games still to play, with four regular-season games this week and the Conference Carolinas Tournament next week — and a hot streak to keep riding.

“I’m glad I came home,” she said. “I’m glad I did it here, I’m finishing it here.”