Arizona's biggest test of the season came this weekend in Los Angeles as the Wildcats visited No. 11 UCLA. The two teams went into Sunday's matchup having split the first two games of the series after Arizona used its offense to earn a 7-3 victory on Saturday. UA couldn't keep its success at the plate going Sunday, however.

UA (13-6, 1-2 Pac-12) only managed four hits against the UCLA pitching staff in Sunday's game while the Wildcats' relievers allowed nine runs in an 11-3 loss at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Arizona jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, but the Bruins (12-6, 2-1) responded by scoring runs in six of the eight innings they went to the plate. Wildcats head coach Jay Johnson said he felt his team had some opportunities to expand on its early lead, but ultimately the UCLA pitching staff controlled the game.

It was a difficult way for the Wildcats to end what looked like a promising weekend after Saturday's win.

"They played better than us, they definitely won the battle of the bullpen for sure," Johnson said Sunday. "They played really good defense all weekend. They have a really athletic team, and I thought they handled the baseball really well. TJ (Nichols) wasn't really sharp, so we tried to maybe change the look and went to a couple other guys. I think their at-bats today were just better than they were the previous two days.

"Again, I'll tip my hat to them. They simply played pretty well today in all three phases."

Starter-turned-reliever Quinn Flanagan picked up the loss in Sunday's game after entering the game in the third inning in relief of Nichols who went just 2 2/3 innings for the Wildcats. Flanagan faced 10 batters and surrendered three earned runs in his 1 2/3 innings of work. He ended up as one of three UA pitchers to give up three runs as Ian Churchill and Dawson Netz did the same during their time on the mound.

It was the shortest outing of the season for Nichols who allowed a season-high four walks to go along with two runs and four hits in his fifth start.

UA's pitching staff continues to be a work in progress overall this season, but Johnson still has confidence in this year's group.

"Some of them need more time and experience to improve, and we certainly don't want that to come at the expense of them scoring in six of the eight innings today," Johnson said. "But, I feel like we'll get it right. I had a good feeling about how we would pitch this weekend, and I think we pitched extremely well for the first 20 innings of the series. We did not pitch well for the last six innings of the series.

"I think tomorrow will be great. I think we're having to anticipate to use a lot of guys in that game. I like where we're at. There's a lot of guys that can make really good contributions especially when we set them up to be successful."

UCLA's pitchers did a good job of keeping Arizona mostly quiet at the plate for a lot of the series. That included keeping two of UA's top hitters quiet throughout the three games as first baseman Branden Boissiere and right fielder Ryan Holgate combined to go just 3 for 23.

Freshman designated hitter Jacob Berry put together a strong series, however, as his success at the plate continued on the trip to UCLA. He finished the series by going 5 for 11 with three RBIs and three extra base hits including a home run.

"You could make an argument that he's the best hitter on our team, and I don't think anybody would challenge that," Johnson said. "He's equally good from the left side and the right side which is exciting and makes the matchup situation tough. I thought the professionalism of his at-bats has been great. I think that was very evident in the first inning today.

"He hit balls to all parts of the field, walked a couple times and I certainly like seeing him come up there. I think he'll continue to be a big part of our success and scoring runs."

The Wildcats and Bruins went into the season expected to be the two teams in best position to win the Pac-12 title, so this weekend's series was a good measuring stick for Johnson's team. He came away with plenty of positive feelings about his group despite the two losses.

"I think there are some things to be encouraged about," Johnson said about his team in its first conference series. "The identity of our team, in terms of being in the fight and competitive, even when we were down 9-3 guys were still trying to put good at-bats together and staying with it. I don't think we're gonna be out of many games.

"That was the first time it felt like at all we were ever out of a game 19, 20 games into the season. I'm looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow. I'm looking forward to getting back home next weekend. It's not gonna get any easier. We have a couple really tough opponents coming up, and I wouldn't have it any other way especially with this team. I think we're gonna improve, I think some of those pitchers are gonna get a little bit better, I think some guys learned some things this weekend of how important it is to stay inside their approach and I think this series will benefit us."

UA will wrap up its trip to Los Angeles with a game against Loyola Marymount on Monday with first pitch set for 1 p.m. MST.

WATCH: Jay Johnson's complete postgame media session on Sunday

• GAME 1: Arizona battled with UCLA in the opening game of the series and had plenty of opportunities to earn the win in what turned into an impressive pitching battle between the two squads. UA ace Chase Silseth struck out nine batters during his time on the mound before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Relievers Riley Cooper and Preston Price allowed just one hit the rest of the way but a difficult ninth inning for Price ended with a walk-off walk for the Bruins. (3-2 UCLA win)

• GAME 2: Arizona's bats came alive in the second game of the series as the Wildcats hit four home runs as a team with four different players going deep in the win. Second baseman Kobe Kato had three hits in the game, including a home run, as UA collected 10 hits in the game. Catcher Daniel Susac gave UA the go-ahead run in the eighth inning with a single that brought in Boissiere. Holgate and shortstop Jacob Blas added home runs to give the Wildcats their 13th victory of the season (7-3 Arizona win)

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