Hogs ace honored nationally
FAYETTEVILLE - Arkansas junior Ryne Stanek was selected as a second team All-American by Collegiate Baseball magazine on Thursday.
Stanek, who is projected as an early first-round pick in June’s amateur draft, is scheduled to start Saturday at the NCAA Manhattan Regional hosted by Kansas State.
Stanek, a 6-4 junior from Overland Park, Kan., is 9-2 with an SEC-best 1.40 earned run average in 15 starts. He was named first team All-SEC in voting by coaches this week. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in 13 starts.
Stanek went 8-1 with a 0.86 ERA in 11 starts in SEC games. His career numbers are 21-8 with a 2.59 ERA in 47 games.
Wise almost well
Arkansas catcher Jake Wise said he feels better after suffering from walking pneumonia last week at the SEC Tournament. It was reported during a television broadcast that Wise was out with a cold.
Wise said he didn’t tell his mother he was so ill because he didn’t want her to worry, but she called after hearing a cold sidelined him.
“She said, ‘You missed the game for a cold? That’s not the son I raised,’ ” Wise said. “She was giving me a hard time.”
Wise then explained how sick he really had been, which sent Jean Ramirez into the starting lineup for two games.
Bulldogs wary
Bryant Coach Steve Owens and his team understand where Arkansas ranks in team pitching, No. 1 nationally with a 1.87 earned run average.
“It’s a pretty good challenge for our hitters,” Owens said.
“The best pitching staff in the country, so we know what we’re up against,” Bryant outfielder Kevin Brown said. “Jake Wise does a great job with those pitchers.”
Bryant was excited to get a No. 3 seed at the regional.
“It’s kind of funny when you think, ‘Oh, a three seed. Well, we don’t have to face the No. 1.’ But then we’re facing Arkansas,” Brown said. “We definitely have our work cut out for us.”
Nearing the end
Arkansas has a large group of seniors and draft-eligible juniors who likely won’t be back with the team next season, and most of them are the core of the team that led the Razorbacks to the College World Series last year.
“Right now our mind-set is we’re only guaranteed one more week, and we want to make the most of it and get another week, and then another week,” closer Colby Suggs said. “So hopefully we can go to Omaha and keep playing well and make a run at the championship.”Been a while
Arkansas’ Dave Van Horn said he considers Kansas State Coach Brad Hill a friend.
“They had a great year,” he said. “They won the league for the first time, maybe ever.”
Kansas State won the Big 12 title for its first conference championship since 1933.
Field concerns
Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn is leery of what could be a tricky playing surface at Kansas State.
The school installed new artificial turf over the entire field a couple of years ago, following a trend of schools around the country. The result has been a lightning quick surface that can produce big innings and rewards fast reflexes and stingy fielding.
“I think the only part of the baseball field that has dirt on it is the mound, so it’s a different feel, big-time,” Van Horn told reporters Thursday. “We need to get comfortable on that field, and that may play a big part in it.” SEC strength
Arkansas, Mississippi State and South Carolina are among nine SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament’s 64-team field, the most of any conference, and tied for the most ever by the SEC. The SEC’s other entries are No.
2 overall seed Vanderbilt, No. 4 seed LSU, Alabama, Florida, Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
Schedule change?
Dave Van Horn said he’s still trying to figure out the NCAA’s RPI formula, but he’s been told losing neutral site games “hurts you big time.”
The Razorbacks were 0-4 in a tournament in Surprise, Ariz., losing to Arizona State twice and to Gonzaga and Pacific.
“It makes you wonder if you should play in tournaments early in the year or should you just go and play somebody on the road,” Van Horn said.
Arkansas is scheduled to play in a tournament at AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, next season, and Van Horn is considering an opportunity to play at the Houston Astros’ park in 2016.
“Maybe we shouldn’t do that,” Van Horn said. “I don’t know. I’m going to kind of investigate it some more.”
Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.
Sports, Pages 22 on 05/31/2013