CHICAGO-After the first inning, it looked like it would be Northwestern’s day. But that’s why the game lasts nine innings.

Although the Wildcats went up early, their offense stalled and their pitching was victimized by the long ball in a 6-1 loss at Illinois-Chicago.

In the initial frame, freshman Arby Fields led off with a double to deep left-centerfield, and later scored on a sacrifice fly. Four NU players reached base in the inning on two hits and two walks, which ultimately accounted for one-third of the team’s totals in both categories.

In the bottom of the first, senior pitcher Joe Muraski got three-up and three-down with a strikeout and it seemed NU could cruise over the 2009 Horizon League Champions.The Cats got a couple more hits in the next two innings, knocking Illinois-Chicago starter Tim Suminski out of the game.

Then the cold spell struck. From the fourth inning through the eighth inning, NU was no-hit by five different Flames relievers.

“We started out hitting the ball OK,” coach Paul Stevens said. “But we didn’t capitalize on some opportunities in the first inning and we didn’t find a way to score runs.”

Compounding the lack of production was NU’s inability to score what baserunners it did get on base. The Cats stranded nine runners and the team’s four-through-eight hitters went a combined 0-for-15.

It was a tough night for Muraski, who dropped to 0-3 on the season thanks to paltry run support and a couple of bad pitches. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, the senior hurler had given up only one run in the game. Muraski had leadoff batter Steve McGuiggan down 0-2 when he made his first mistake of the contest. McGuiggan crushed the pitch over the centerfield wall for a two-run blast that gave the Flames a 3-1 lead.

The next inning was déjà vu all over again for Muraski, as Illinois-Chicago got another two-out, two-run homer, this time courtesy of Joe Betcher. The big flies marred what was otherwise a strong outing for Muraski, who struck out five and walked none in six innings of work.

“Joe-Mo pitched well except for a couple of bad pitches,” Stevens said. “They capitalized on two swings of the bat with two outs, but I’m not upset with how he threw.”

Flames coach Mike Dee was also impressed by Muraski’s performance.

“He pitched really well,” Dee said. “He made us work tonight and our guys were challenged up there. Thank God we put a couple good swings on those balls.”[email protected]