The Iowa baseball team announced the signing of a nationally ranked recruiting class on Thursday.

Prep standouts Ryan Borucki, Blake Hickman, Trevor Kenyon, Josh Martsching, Calvin Mathews, Devin Pickett, and Nick Roscetti have signed letters of intent and will join the Hawkeyes next fall.

The seven-member class is ranked 45th nationally, third-best in the Big Ten, according to Perfect Game.

"This is the best recruiting class in many years at Iowa," Jerry Ford, the president of Perfect Game, said in a release. "If the MLB draft doesn’t end up signing some of these recruits, Iowa could become a power program in the conference over the next few years."

At least two of the recruits are on the MLB radar. Hickman and Pickett — a 6-5, 210-pound catcher and 6-1, 185-pound infielder, respectively — both graduated from the Chicago White Sox ACE program, which is set up to offer elite players from the inner city the best possible opportunity to play the sport.

The class includes two catchers (Hickman and Kenyon, the younger brother of former Iowa reliever Zach Kenyon), three pitchers (Borucki, Martsching, and Mathews), and a pair of infielders (Pickett and Roscetti).

All seven players are from either Iowa or Illinois.

"We’re very excited to add these seven student-athletes to our program," head coach Jack Dahm said in a release. "This is a very talented group that will represent the University of Iowa right away — not only on the field but also off the field."

The Hawkeyes will open their 2012 season in February at the Big Ten/Big East Challenge in Florida.

Their home-opener is slated for March 20 against Grand View.

— by Seth Roberts