The UW baseball team has spent the last two weeks improving its winning percentage from .200 on March 4 to its current spot at .590.

The improvement came thanks to a nine-game winning streak that came to an end when Gonzaga beat the Huskies 12-0 last Thursday. But the Bulldog attack didn’t slow the Huskies (14-9, 2-0 Pac 10) down as they swept WSU in the Apple Cup of baseball in Pullman this past weekend.

“It’s going good; we’re improving,” coach Ken Knutson said. “We’re getting better offensively at the plate. … Our pitching has been pretty good from the beginning, and outside of a few ball games, it has been very good.”

The winning streak began when the UW swept Southern Utah in a two-game series on March 5 and 6 (7-1, 6-2). That weekend, the team finished its 12-game home stand by sweeping Pacific in a three-game series (4-2, 8-0, 6-5).

The igniting of the Husky bats helped to provide many of the wins. They have won 12 of their last 13 games, and head into Pac-10 play with plenty of momentum.

“I think this road trip and playing everyday, you get in a groove,” Rindal said. “We’re pretty amped up to be playing the Cougs to open up Pac-10 play, so that also helps.”

Out in Pullman the Huskies opened up Pac-10 play well by sweeping the Cougars (13-10, 0-3 Pac-10) in a three-game series over the weekend.

Game One on Friday went into extra innings and ended when Bradley Boyer hit a two-run homer in the 11th to give the Huskies the 5-3 win.

“Boyer’s playing out of his mind right now,” Rindal said. “He’s seeing it well. That was just a huge swing and a huge momentum turn for our team and for our season.”

Junior Nick Hagadone earned the victory (2-1) after pitching two and two-thirds perfect innings in relief.

On Saturday, the Huskies took it to the Cougars with their bats and won 15-4. Rindal led the hitters with four hits and three RBIs. Rasmussen came in as a pinch hitter in the sixth and ended up going three-for-three to drive in four runs.

On the mound, sophomore Jorden Merry worked seven innings to earn his fifth win of the season.

Rain delayed Sunday’s third and final game, but once the teams finally took the field, Washington came out and played a tough game, barely edging out WSU 6-5 to earn the sweep, thanks to back-to-back RBIs by Michael Burgher and Boyer.

Washington returns home this week to continue Pac-10 play. The team will face off against Arizona State (21-7, 2-0 Pac 10) this weekend at Husky Ballpark.

Reach reporter James Schleicher at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.