CHICAGO – After giving up four runs in the first inning to Illinois-Chicago, a two-run double off the bat of first baseman Pat McMahon brought Northwestern to within one run in the top of the second inning.

Nineteen runs, 22 hits and four Wildcats pitchers later, the Flames had handed NU a 23-5 loss.

“It was a long night,” coach Paul Stevens said.

The Flames (28-17) used 10 extra-base hits to punish the Cats (19-28), including five home runs.

Illinois-Chicago catcher Justin Johnson hit a grand slam in the seventh inning and centerfielder Kevin Zalnis followed with a three-run shot in the eighth, his first collegiate hit.

“It’s tough being a part of these types of games,” McMahon said. “It’s baseball, it happens. Unfortunately it’s happened a bunch of times to us this year.”

The loss drops the Cats to 0-5 in midweek games since the beginning of the Big Ten season. The team has been outscored 57-26 in the five contests.

While midweek games have taken a toll on the Cats’ record, Stevens said they are crucial in evaluating the progress of his team.

“You evaluate individuals in a team atmosphere,” he said. “Right now there are a lot of young kids on this team and there are a lot of people being asked to do a lot of things on the weekend. We’re always looking to see where our next avenue of opportunity is going to be.”

Freshmen Tony Vercelli and Tommy Finn provided bright spots for NU in its loss.

Vercelli took an offering from pitcher Randy Krick in the sixth inning and yanked a moon shot to left field. The ball blended in with the clouds before finding its resting place in the boughs of a tree, well beyond the left-field wall.

It was his first collegiate home run.

“I knew I hit it well, but I thought I got it up in the air,” Vercelli said. “So I took off running. I got down to first and (Coach) Klein was trying to give me a high five. Then I thought ‘It must be a home run.'”

Finn, who was hitting .228 coming into the game, went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

Stevens said he looks for “silver linings” in games like Tuesday’s.

“There were a lot of things I saw tonight that I really liked,” he said. “But there were also a lot of other things that were rather distracting. At this point, you take the things that were distracting you, and you put on your blinders and go to work.”

Vercelli started behind the plate to spell Geoff Dietz, who had caught 14 straight games for the Cats.

“You’re trying to do a whole lot of things to keep the momentum going,” Stevens said, “keeping guys on top of their game and still trying to make sure they get their rest to evolve the way you’d like to see them come the weekend.”

McMahon said NU, which is tied with Michigan for the Big Ten lead, has to have a short memory and dedicate itself to this weekend’s series against conference opponent Michigan State.

“We just have to try to stay focused,” he said. “There’s always tomorrow; there’s always next weekend.”

Reach David Morrison at [email protected].