Arkansas baseball found another arm for next year’s staff on Tuesday.
Right-handed pitcher Luke Neiswonger announced on social media that he’s heading to Fayetteville after spending his freshman season at Central Michigan.
He’s the seventh player the Razorbacks have pulled from the transfer portal this offseason.
Neiswonger stands 6-foot-2 and can reach back for 95 to 96 mph on his fastball, but his game doesn’t stop there.
He has a mix of pitches that keeps hitters guessing, which gives Dave Van Horn’s staff another weekend-caliber option for 2027.
The Fort Wayne, Ind., native didn’t get a full season to show what he could do.
An injury cut his freshman year short, but he still managed a 2-1 record with a 5.34 ERA across six appearances. He struck out 47 batters over just 32 innings, walked 10 and gave up 34 hits.
Those strikeout numbers stand out for a guy who barely got a half season in.
His best outing came against West Georgia on February 14. Neiswonger threw five shutout innings, fanned eight hitters, walked just one and allowed only a single hit on 67 pitches.
That effort earned him the MAC Pitcher of the Week award. He followed it up a week later with a win over Belmont, giving up three runs on seven hits over five innings.
Before college, Neiswonger put together a strong senior year at the plate too. He hit .311 with five home runs and struck out 44 hitters in 21 2/3 innings on the mound.
Neiswonger graduated with a 3.60 grade point average and helped his prep team win four sectional and two regional titles. He also played summer ball with the Indiana Bulls and a team called Passion Resilience Process Mambas.
Neiswonger isn’t the only new arm joining the Hogs this month. Ridge Harvey, a left-hander from Belmont, committed to Arkansas just last week.
The Razorbacks also picked up a pair of JUCO pitchers in recent weeks as Van Horn tries to build a deeper staff heading into 2027.
That depth matters after last season.
By the time 2026 wrapped up, Van Horn’s trusted pitching circle had shrunk to around six arms, and that’s not enough to make a real postseason push.
Adding pieces like Neiswonger gives the Hogs more options when the games matter most.
There’s another factor that could help Arkansas find more portal arms. Assistant coach Matt Hobbs will serve as pitching coach for the USA Collegiate National Team in Cary, N.C., this summer.
Razorback coaches have leaned on that connection before since former Hogs have represented the national team in past summers, even though no current Arkansas player will be on this year’s roster.
Five Razorbacks pitchers also got invites to next week’s MLB Draft Combine in Arizona. Hunter Dietz, Gabe Gaeckle, Ethan McElvain, Colin Fisher and Carson Wiggins will attend, along with Ryder Helfrick and Camden Kozeal.
All seven are eligible for next month’s draft, though Wiggins could still return for a third season given the looming change letting players spend five years on campus.
