The South Dakota State University baseball team has been picked to finish second in the 2017 Summit League race, according to a poll conducted among league coaches.

The Jackrabbits, under the direction of first-year head coach Rob Bishop, return six position starters from a squad that finished the 2016 season with a 22-35 overall record and fourth-place finish in the league standings with a 13-17 mark.

Leading the Jackrabbits’ returning contingent is junior catcher Luke Ringhofer, who was named as a Summit League Player to Watch. A two-time all-Summit League selection, the Cottage Grove, Minnesota, native hit a team-best .361 with three home runs and 31 runs batted in during the 2016 campaign. Ringhofer carries a Division I-era-best streak of 49 games reaching base safely into 2017.

Defending Summit League champion Oral Roberts received five first-place votes en route to earning the top spot in the poll. SDSU received the other first-place vote and was followed by North Dakota State, Omaha, Western Illinois and Fort Wayne.