FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas picked up a commitment from an in-state pitcher Wednesday.
Pine Bluff right-hander Markevian "Tink" Hence became the Razorbacks' 10th known commit in the class of 2020. Six of those commits are from the state of Arkansas.
Hence plays high school baseball at Watson Chapel and summer baseball for the Arkansas Sticks. Arkansas pitching coach Wes Johnson watched Hence pitch during a game against Little Rock Catholic on March 6 and the Razorbacks extended an offer Wednesday.
"He committed on the spot," Sticks coach Chase Brewster said. "It's a place he has always wanted to go to. He's got a chance to pitch right away, I think, with the way he throws pitches for a strike.
"He's a young kid and should actually be a freshman, and he's going to play this entire season as a 15-year-old. He's got a lot of upside."
Hence's fastball has been clocked at 88 mph. He also throws a slider, changeup two-seam and curveball.
"He may be the best overall pitcher in the class," Brewster said. "He throws five pitches for a strike whenever he wants. There are guys that throw harder...but he really knows how to get guys out in a bunch of different ways. I think that's what made him attractive to (a team) like Arkansas is that he's not a guy who knows how to throw hard but you'll have to teach how to pitch; he's a guy that knows how to pitch who is going to throw harder one day."
Hence said he has grown up an Arkansas fan and visited the Fayetteville campus last month for the Razorbacks' series against Kentucky. He said he had been speaking to other schools, but declined to say which ones.
"I would like to thank the man above for giving me the talent to become an Arkansas Razorback," Hence said. "It's a dream come true."
Hence has two older brothers, Braelin and Blake, who play college baseball at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Verbal commitments are not binding.
Arkansas Baseball 2020 Commitments
Austin Atkinson, LHP, 6-5, 152, Plano, Texas
Ethan Bates, SS, 5-10, 155, Hot Springs (Lakeside), Ark.
Tyler Cacciatori, RHP, 6-2, 170, Sheridan, Ark.
Hunter Cramer, SS, 6-1, 160, Conroe (Oak Ridge), Texas
Clayton Gray, OF, 5-10, 155, Cabot, Ark.
Nick Griffin, LHP/OF, 6-2, 160, Monticello, Ark.
Markevian "Tink" Hence, RHP, 5-11, 160, Pine Bluff (Watson Chapel), Ark.
Heston Tole, INF, 6-5, 185, Bowie, Texas
Cayden Wallace, 3B, 6-1, 200, Greenbrier, Ark.
Jaxon Wiggins, RHP, 6-3, 178, Roland, Okla.