FAYETTEVILLE - Quibbling about Ryne Stanek’s pitching seems on nitpicking par with criticizing the Mona Lisa.

Critics for the ages generally pitch the Mona Lisa as the perfect painting, and it seems after a rocky start that the Arkansas Razorbacks’ junior right-hander has pitched pretty close to perfect in SEC play.

Stanek should rate high in any critic’s book with a 5-1 record and 1.25 ERA over 8 starts in college baseball’s toughest conference going into tonight’s start against Tennessee at Baum Stadium. In 50 1/3 innings in SEC play, Stanek has only 10 fewer strikeouts (43) than hits allowed (37) and walks (16) combined.

Some critics don’t go by the numbers. Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn doesn’t measure Stanek’s past two starts - though victorious against Georgia and Kentucky -to masterpieces like Stanek’s complete-game three-hitter at South Carolina, shutting out Alabama through eight innings, beating SEC West leader LSU or striking out nine over six shutout innings in an eventual 12-2 rout of Texas A&M.

“Stanek’s last two outings have been very average for Ryne Stanek type stuff,” Van Horn said. “I am hoping he gives us about eight good ones in a row.”

Pitching coach Dave Jorn concurs that Stanek’s performances were not up to par when he required relief during the seventh inning against Georgia and during the sixth inning against Kentucky.

“He’s got good enough stuff to get himself through it,” Jorn said. “He competes and he battles and he gives you five or six solid innings, but he’s got better stuff to be a lot better than what he’s throwing.”

Friday night starter Barrett Astin and Stanek both have prevailed in some starts where grit and reputation willed them deep into games when they didn’t have their best stuff.

“Both of them have experience,” Jorn said. “Both of them have some poise to hang in there and keep things in check and not let it get too far away, but both are capable of even being better than what they are doing.”

So what has plagued Stanek recently?

“He’s just not commanded the ball and he’s struggled with his arm slot a little bit” Jorn said. “He’s not feeling consistent with where it’s at when he releases the ball and his secondary pitches have just been OK and he’s elevated some fast balls.”

Still, Stanek’s recent slightly sub par sessions don’t approach his slow start back in February and early March. From mid-March on, maybe he just got on a roll so hot that he had to cool down eventually.

“He might have gotten a little too comfortable,” Jorn said. “We’ve challenged him a little bit to get back to having that same kind of focus that he had and something to prove every time he goes out there on the mound and back up what he is expected to do. He’ll get a lot better as time goes by.”

He always has this time of year.

Sports, Pages 22 on 05/11/2013