Summit League Baseball Poll

ELMHURST, Ill. - Omaha is favored to repeat as the Summit League baseball regular-season champion, defending tournament champ South Dakota State was picked second and North Dakota State third in a preseason poll of the league's five head coaches released Thursday, Feb. 6.  Western Illinois was fourth and Fort Wayne was fifth.

Regular season play begins Feb. 14 and league play begins March 28.  The four-team Summit League tournament May 22-24 at South Dakota State will feature SDSU, NDSU, Western Illinois and IPFW.  Omaha is not eligible for postseason play until 2016.

North Dakota State returns a league-high five all-league selections, including four first team selections, for the 2014 season. Kyle Kleinendorst led the Bison with a .333 average, fourth-best in the league, while Tim Colwell led the league with 40 runs scored and was second with four triples.

Jon Hechtner (.269 BA) and Wes Satzinger (.307 BA, 32 RBI, .487 SLG) rounded out NDSU’s first team returnees. Second-teamer John Skrbec (.253 BA, 37 H) also returns while David Ernst (5-5, 3.43 ERA, 2 SO) headlines the Bison pitching staff.

North Dakota State opens its schedule with a three-game series Feb. 21-23 at Southern California.

2014 Summit League Baseball Preseason Poll
Place	Team	Points (1st)	2013 Record
1.	Omaha	15 (3)	27-22 (20-6)
2.	South Dakota State	12 (1)	35-24 (16-12)
3.	North Dakota State	10	26-27 (11-13)
4.	Western Illinois	8 (1)	19-37 (9-17)
5.	Fort Wayne	5	22-32 (9-21)