Arizona State coach Tracy Smith put it simply – his team is going to have to battle each and every night for a win.

The Sun Devils (19-12, 5-8 Pac-12) did just enough to battle for a win Friday night, holding on for a 6-4 win over No. 15 Cal (20-10, 8-5 Pac-12) at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

The win marked back-to-back victories for ASU, the first the team has had since an eight-game winning streak in early March.

ASU junior right-hander Seth Martinez (5-3, 1.88 ERA) was solid yet again for the Sun Devils, going seven innings and giving up just three runs (two earned) on five hits while throwing 97 pitches.

“It all starts on the mound,” Smith said of the win. “When you get a good, quality start and I think we made some fantastic plays behind him…you pitch it and you play defense, then you’ve got a chance to win. I would say for us to continue this formula of wins, we need to pitch it and we need to play defense.”

Smith said Martinez’s continued excellence has been one of the underlying positives of the season.

“He gets mad at me saying it but it’s like the most unimpressive quality you’ve ever seen, and I say that as a compliment,” Smith said. “He doesn’t have the overpowering fastball. He doesn’t have the wipeouts slider. But you look up there seven innings later and he’s held you down. We’ll take that from him every day of the week.”

Cal senior right-hander Ryan Mason (5-2, 2.91 ERA), who started in the place of injured ace Daulton Jeffries, struggled against the Sun Devils early. He lasted just four innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on seven hits and threw 74 pitches.

Golden Bears freshman right-hander Joey Matulovich was great out of the bullpen, tossing four shutout innings and giving up two hits.

The Golden Bears mounted a two-out rally in the opening frame, as sophomore Brett Cumberland (2-for-4, RBI) brought home Mitchell Kranson on an RBI single to right field. The rally began on Kranson’s double off Martinez into the gap in left-center field.

“I felt a little off in the first inning, so the second inning I just tried to restart again and I guess try to find my groove,” Martinez said. “That was the difference, finding that groove and getting back into it mentally.”

The Sun Devils were quick to respond, as freshman, Tyler Williams’ two-out double into the right-center field gap brought home junior Brian Serven to knot the game at one apiece in the second inning.

Williams was stellar in what was a breakout game for him, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, a run scored and three extra-base hits.

“He’s a big, strong lad,” Smith said. “He can hurt you. He can hurt you pulling the ball and he can hurt you (to the opposite field). I just think his approach right now is good and he’s seeing the baseball well… I think he definitely was the spark for us offensively tonight.”

Freshman Gage Canning (2-for-4, RBI) brought home Williams three pitches later, singling through the right side of the infield to make it 2-1.

“Those were some big hits,” Smith said of Canning. “Gage still needs to cut it down and put more balls in play, because it seems like when he puts the ball in play good things happen.”

Junior David Greer added on in the third, launching a home run deep to straightaway center field off of Mason to make it 3-1 for the Sun Devils. It was Greer’s third home run in the past four games, and it was just the second home run Mason has given up since the 2014 season.

Serven would provide another insurance run in the inning, bringing home junior Colby Woodmansee with a single to right. Sophomore Ryan Lillard continued the hot streak, slapping a two-RBI double into the gap to make it 6-1 Sun Devils.

Cal would chip into the lead in the sixth inning as senior Nick Halamandaris launched a shot over the right field wall off of Martinez to cut the lead to four runs. They would add on two innings later, scoring a pair of runs on a Robbie Tenerowicz (2-for-3, two RBI) two-RBI double into the gap off of reliever Eli Lingos.

Junior right-hander Eder Erives (3.27 ERA), who was originally slated to start Saturday, came in for Lingos in relief and tossed 1 1/3 shutout innings to earn his fourth save of the season.

“We’ve got to do whatever we can do to win a game,” Smith said of bringing in Erives. “We’ll figure it out (tomorrow).”

The Sun Devils go for a much-needed series win Saturday night against the Golden Bears. Lingos (2-2, 2.45 ERA) is slated to start for ASU while Cal is expected to send out Jeff Bain (3-2, 3.45 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for noon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

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