Heading into this weekend's three-game series with the Utah Utes, Jay Johnson said the team, 14-17 overall and just 5-10 in the Pac-12, couldn't be over looked. He stayed true to his "every game is the super bowl" philosophy.

Led by solid starting pitching, the Utes defeated Arizona 4-2 Saturday night and swept the Wildcats, their first time being swept at Hi Corbett Field this season. Arizona dropped to 26-12 overall and 9-9 in Pac-12 play, and finds itself in a three-way tie for 4th place in the conference.

"I'm gonna tip my hat to them and process it by going back to what we do which is improvement on a daily basis," Johnson said. "I think the most disappointing thing is we did not improve throughout the weekend and we're going to go back to work on that."

Here's a breakdown of the weekend series, and what went wrong for Arizona.

Heading into the first game of the series, Johnson said Thursday night's starter, Jayson Rose, was one of the best if not the best starters in the Pac-12. The righty had quite the challenge ahead of him, facing an Arizona offense leading the conference in almost every offensive category.

Rose went five innings, allowing six hits and just two earned runs, improving to 5-2 on the season. Jacob Rebar finished the game in relief tossing four innings and leading the Utes to a 12-5 victory in Thursday’s game.

Riley Ottesen followed with a solid performance in game two, striking out five and giving up two runs in 6 2/3 innings pitched. The UA offense was hoping to break out in the final game and avoid a sweep, but lefty Josh Lapiana threw a complete game, quieting one of the most explosive offenses in the nation.

"Don't let their record tell you anything about them," junior Arizona pitcher Robby Medel said. "They've had our number for three years since I've been here, they're a good team. ... If they get in the tournament, they're going to be scary."

Arizona came into the series leading the Pac-12 in on-base percentage, slugging percentage, runs scored, hits, RBIs, doubles, triples and batting average. However, they were stumped this weekend, and totaled only 10 runs and 22 hits in the three-game series.

The Wildcats’ two best hitters, JJ Matijevic and Alfonso Rivas, combined went just 5-24 over the weekend.

A team hitting .332 on the season hit .222 in the series. Johnson was disappointed in the team's offensive performance.

"We swung at more bad pitches tonight than we have in a month and a half," Johnson said after Saturday's game. “... I felt like we had a good plan, I felt like we had a good commitment to the plan I felt like our preparation in batting practice was good today, it did not carry over, and I'm very disappointed in that."

One positive from the sweep were the pitching performances from Cameron Ming, Michael Flynn and Robby Medel on a week when Arizona was shorthanded without ace JC Cloney who was held out of action.

In Friday's game, Ming pitched six innings only giving up one run to keep Arizona in the game but Cody Deason, Tylor Megill and Alfonso Rivas combined to give up 6 runs in relief.

Ming, normally in the closer role, took advantage of the chance to start.

"It's a lot harder for me to watch because I lose control, I like having at the end of the game," Ming said. "I freak out after I get taken out because I can't pitch anymore which is frustrating. It's different, I just don't like not having control at the end of the game but it was fun to start again."

Rio Gomez struggled in the series finale and lasted 1/3 of an inning, giving up three earned runs. Johnson turned to Michael Flynn who turned in 4 2/3 innings, only allowing one run and striking out three.

Medel came into the game in sixth and pitched four shut out innings. The duo combined to retire 13 Utes in a row.

"It goes back to the preparation, our pitching program is huge," Medel said. "It's effective, when you buy into it and you love it and you go about yourself with the grit and the grind everyday, when you get into it, it doesn't matter when you pitch or how long in between outings, you trust the process of your program."

Trusting the process will be key for Arizona to get out of its slump, after all the next “Super Bowl” is this Tuesday at home against New Mexico State.

"We're onto Tuesday," Medel said. “Tuesday's the only thing that matters, Super Bowl 39.”