With the addition of new Head Coach Tracy Smith and the move to Phoenix Municipal Stadium, expectations are at a new high for Arizona State baseball.

With junior starters Brett Lilek and Ryan Kellogg leading the rotation, the Sun Devils (PENDING 3/11 GAME AGAINST UNLV. CHANGE THIS) can compete with just about any team in the country.

ASU split six games against a pair of top teams when it hosted No. 21 Oklahoma State and No. 6 TCU to open its 2015 schedule.

Sophomore shortstop Colby Woodmansee is one of the better defensive infielders in the Pac-12. But much to the surprise of fans, he’s been a sparkplug at the plate and leads the team with 21 hits (including a walk-off home run) and has hit at a .382 clip through 14 games this season.

There are traditional stars on this team, one of them being junior designated hitter RJ Ybarra, who is one of ASU’s best pure hitters.

Smith has emphasized a culture of accountability and displayed he’s not afraid to bench veterans for not hustling.

He’s also willing to throw freshman pitchers into the fire, like he did when he started freshman righty Ryan Hingst and gave four other rookies innings against Paul Goldschmidt and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.

ASU can count on pitching depth to be one of its strengths, even while it figures out the middle of its bullpen leading up to All-American junior closer Ryan Burr, and searches for a more consistent Sunday starter option.

One glaring weakness is a lack of mental awareness, from making situational base running errors to overthrows on pickoffs to forgetting to cover first base.

Statistically, ASU was the worst defensive team in the Pac-12 in 2014, with a .965 team fielding percentage and a conference-high of 76 errors.

Whether the Sun Devils end up merely a good team in 2015, or a great with a legitimate chance of an Omaha berth, will depend on how much effort is concentrated on reversing their negative trends.