On a weekend that celebrates a miraculous resurrection, the Arizona baseball team was in desperate need of one.

Arizona (20-22 overall, 4-14 in the Pacific 10 Conference Southern Division) had lost its last four games including Thursday's game against No. 5-ranked Southern Cal (27-8, 14-4), and one win could have turned the team around. Unfortunately, Six-Pac leading USC had no intention of letting the resurrection occur. USC won both Friday's and Saturday's games, sweeping the Wildcats over the Easter weekend and putting UA's playoff hopes in serious jeopardy.

UA lost 2-0 Saturday and 15-4 Friday to follow Thursday's 6-2 defeat.

The losing ways of the Wildcats have been attributed to every aspect of the game. At first it was the pitching, then it was the defense and now it is the hitting. This recent trend has led to disastrous results for the normally hard-hitting Wildcats.

"I'm perplexed," Arizona head coach Jerry Kindall said. "We got off to a great start at 11-2 in the month of February, and we played well for the first few series of the conference. We have just not done the job, and I don't know why."

Saturday's game was the culmination of Arizona's frustration. The Wildcats lost 2-0 in a game that had good pitching and errorless defense. Arizona pitcher Darrell Hussman (2-2) pitched a solid 61/3 innings allowing five hits and two runs with one walk and one strikeout. Hussman was relieved by senior left-hander Ben White who finished the game allowing two hits with one walk and one strikeout. It was a two-run home run in the fourth inning of Hussman by Trojan catcher Chad Moeller that was the Wildcats' undoing.

"I just wanted to go out and do what I know," Hussman said. "I slipped up and let a fastball go for a two-run home run, and that's the difference between the game."

The Wildcats were in a position to win when third baseman Omar Moraga and second baseman John Powers both singled in the eighth inning. With one out and two men on, Arizona shortstop Jake Thrower hit a fly ball for the second out. The last hope of the Wildcats was center fielder Diego Rico. Rico, who had only one hit in the whole series, grounded out to end the inning.

"We wasted a great pitching effort by not being able to hit the ball and score some runs," Kindall said. "It was so regrettable that we couldn't put the normal compliment of runs up there, because normally we score runs."

Friday night's game was an absolute rout. Arizona starter Shawn Barrington (1-6) allowed four runs in 12/3 innings with one walk and one strikeout. The Arizona relieving corps of Clay Crossan, Jason Ford and Jason Frierott was futile in stopping the potent Southern Cal offense, which was led by All-America center fielder Jacque Jones' 2-5, 3-RBI effort. The only bright spot for the Wildcats was the two-run home run by Kenny Corley, his eighth home run of the year.