The Washington baseball team’s weekend series against USC could be its biggest test yet.

For much of the season, the Huskies have been stuck between two gears: off and on.

When the Dawgs are off, like against Arizona State and UCLA, their bats are quiet — except perhaps for slugger Kyle Conley — and their pitchers get rocked.

When the Dawgs are on, like against Cal and Oregon, their bats come alive and their pitching keeps teams off balance.

But it was just one year ago that the UW baseball team swept USC to move to 8-7 in the Pac-10 standings, an NCAA berth in their sightlines, a goal they ultimately fell short of. Just one year ago, it was Conley who fueled the Huskies’ resurgence with eight hits in 10 at bats, two home runs, nine RBI and two walks.

This year, head coach Ken Knutson wouldn’t mind a similar performance.

“We need Conley to do what he did last year, and we’ll be fine,” Knutson said. “Hit some home runs again and win Pac-10 Player of the Week.”

But Washington (18-23, 7-8 Pac-10) will need a lot more to get past a USC team with two of the best starters in the Pac-10 in Robert Stock and Brad Boxberger.

The Dawgs will have an advantage with Pierce Rankin back in the lineup after recovering from surgery, but Knutson stressed that all the bats will need to come alive.

“We’re hoping Pierce can get in there and start swinging the bat,” Knutson said. “But it’s the same guys, same game. If we can get a couple of bats going around Rife and Conley, the two guys that are most consistent, then we can score some runs.”

On the mound, after weeks of different starting pitching combinations, Knutson seems to have put his faith in the trio of Aaron West, Jason Erickson and Andrew Kittredge that has pitched the last few series. They will take the hill against USC for another weekend series.

Erickson particularly shined last weekend at Oregon when he tossed a complete game shutout, striking out seven batters to cruise to a 2-0 victory.

“Everything came together,” Erickson said. “My body was working well, I felt really comfortable, I had good tempo, I was throwing strikes and my teammates were making plays behind me. So it allowed for a really easy day.”

This weekend, he and the rest of the UW pitching staff will get to face a lineup almost as inept as Oregon’s in USC (22-20, 10-8 Pac-10).

“We just need to be the aggressive team,” Erickson said. “They have some power arms, and our hitters need to take their fastballs away from them, and we’ll be really successful offensively. On the mound, we have to attack the strike zone, invite contact and see what they can do.”

Reach reporter Allen Wagner at sports@dailyuw.com.