Tracy Smith is convinced that he does not have a bad baseball team. He just thinks they’re playing bad baseball.

Smith’s Arizona State (6-6) squad dropped its third in a row Tuesday, allowing No. 7 Cal State Fullerton (6-4) to come back and overpower them in a 10-4 loss at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.

The third-year manager said minor flaws – errors, missed assignments, and notably walks – have proven costly.

“It’s that simple,” Smith said. “We’re 12 games in. No one in that locker room has given up on this team, but we’ve got to play better baseball.”

Despite the downtrodden stretch, which included a series loss to Loyola Marymount, Smith reiterated his confidence in his team.

“If you’re going to let three losses in a row affect you as a player, you need to find another profession,” Smith said. “If you think you’re going to make a career out of this and you’re going to let three baseball games define who you are, and then you collectively throw that together to define who we are? Wrong program, wrong sport, wrong whatever. You’ve got to be able to handle adversity with this stuff.”

The Sun Devils got off to a hot start for the second straight game, scoring a pair in the first frame on RBI singles from Lyle Lin and Carter Aldrete. They would get to starter John Gavin again in the fourth, scoring on a bloop single to right from Myles Denson and an Andrew Shaps RBI double.

They forced Gavin out of the game after four innings in which he had given up four runs on seven hits and three walks. Entering Tuesday’s start, he had given up just one run in 13 1/3 innings pitched.

Again, however, the Sun Devils failed to capitalize on their opportunities, which would soon dry up.

Sophomore right-hander Blake Workman was brilliant in relief for the Titans, tossing four shutout innings and scattering three hits.

ASU junior right-hander Ryan Hingst, making his first start since being removed from the weekend rotation, again fell victim to his control. He lasted just 3 1/3 inning, giving up just one hit but walking three on 55 pitches.

In what was considered a bullpen outing for Hingst despite him starting, Smith was pleased with the limited damage of just one run over his evening of work.

“He’s had really good performances out of the bullpen with his fastball, which is what he’s always been,” Smith said. “I said to him today if he can give us one (inning), give us one, give us two, give us three, whatever. Just give what you’ve got and don’t treat it with a starter’s mentality and save it because you’re going to be back in the bullpen this weekend.”

The pitching woes would worsen, as Cal State Fullerton would add runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings to overcome an early deficit and take the lead. They’d add on in the ninth, riding a pair of ringing triples to center field from pinch-hitter Niko Pacheco and Chris Hudgins in what would be a four-run inning to stretch the lead.

The Sun Devils walked eight Cal State Fullerton batters, including four to lead off innings.

“That’s just confidence and execution,” Smith said. “I don’t think it necessarily comes down to mechanics. It comes down to the concentration piece of it. It clearly has to get better. It’s going to very, very difficult to beat a team like Cal State Fullerton when you’re walking eight guys.”

Each leadoff walk would lead to at least one run for the Titans.

“We jump-started their innings with walks, we jump started their innings with errors, we don’t catch pop-ups,” Smith said. “If we just throw strikes and make them beat us, I would have to say the result is probably different. We have to eliminate the walks because if you don’t eliminate the walks, it makes it very, very difficult to win at this level. Teams are too good. We’re a victim of our own mistakes.”

ASU plans to throw another bullpen game Wednesday, with Fitz Stadler starting on the bump. Stadler has been one of the Sun Devils’ better arms this season, working a 2.89 ERA in four appearances.

The Sun Devils better hope things correct themselves soon. They wrap up a rare two-game midweek set Wednesday against the No. 7-ranked Titans, then host Long Beach State for a three-game home stand before opening conference play against Oregon State, who was ranked fourth in the most recent D1 Baseball rankings.

“It’s not really difficult to see where our problems are,” Smith said. “We get it done on the mound, we cut the walks down, we’re going to be a pretty good baseball team. The hope is that happens sooner rather than later.

“12 games better not define who we are.”