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ASU baseball looks to win second Pac-12 series against Washington

This week on Dirt on the Spikes, we take you through last weekend's series against Washington State, and preview this weekend's matchup against Washington.

Baseball Andrew Snow Washington State
in a game against Washington State on Friday, May 15, 2015 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix.

It took a few weeks, but ASU baseball finally got its first Pac-12 series victory of the season.

The Sun Devils defeated last-place Washington State. Despite the two victories, junior shortstop Colby Woodmansee wasn't completely satisfied.

"I feel like we could have gone out there (to Washington State) and had a sweep," he said. "It's always good to get a Pac-12 series win, it'll kind of feed in to when we play Washington and get us in a good spot to win the series."

ASU won games one and three of the Washington State series but dropped the second one 9-3, going through six pitchers during the game.

"That's been a little bit of our problem, the inconsistency on the hill," head coach Tracy Smith said. "That'll probably be one of our priorities this weekend is getting more consistency, and being more productive on the mound so that we shouldn't have to use that many guys."

The two wins of the series were by large margins, showing the Sun Devils ability to compete in the box.

Woodmansee, junior first baseman David Greer and sophomore second baseman Andrew Snow all impressed Smith at the plate.

The hitter in the lead-off spot has been adjusted throughout the season as Smith trying to find someone who can make things happen for the Sun Devils. This past weekend, he said he was happy with the way Snow was performing in that spot.

"The idea behind that is to get your best hitters at the plate as often as possible, so when we don't have the traditional 'prototype' as you would say, in the leadoff or two-hole or whatever, you kind of adopt different measures," Smith said.

Freshman Tyler Williams has been a stand out in recent weeks both at the plate and in the outfield, Smith said

"I really like what Tyler is doing," Smith said. "(He's) kind of been able to develop at a pace that you would like him to where he didn't play a lot early, and he's working on some things and now we've inserted him in there and got him some production."

The focus heading into this upcoming series remains on continuing to develop the defensive and keeping a good focus, Smith said.

ASU sits at No. 9 in the Pac-12 with a 16-10 overall record and a 3-6 Pac-12 record. The Sun Devils will play against Washington this weekend, which comes to Tempe in fifth place in the conference with a 14-10 overall record and 5-4 record in the Pac-12 after a series loss to Oregon State.

Junior Seth Martinez will start on the mound for the Sun Devils on Friday, and sophomore  Ryan Hingst will make the start Saturday. Sunday's starter is still up in the air, Smith said.

As ASU gets into the middle of the season, Smith remains optimistic.

"The good players will rise to the occasion, and hopefully these guys are hitting their mid-season form right now," Smith said.

Related links:

Hingst's no-hitter brings emotions, memories to teammates, fans and family

ASU baseball wins its first Pac-12 series


Reach the reporters at haley.stesiak@asu.edu or follow @haley_stesiak on Twitter and at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or on Twitter @justintoscano3.

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