Lombardi Chosen as Candidate for Senior CLASS Award

HANOVER, N.H. — Thirty NCAA baseball student-athletes who excel both on and off the diamond were selected as candidates today for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award in collegiate baseball, and Dartmouth third baseman Nick Lombardi was among the group chosen. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence — community, classroom, character and competition.

A native of Saugus, Calif., Lombardi has been the Big Green third baseman ever since arriving on campus as a freshman and recently became the 18th player in program history to drive in 100 runs in a career. He was named to the first team for All-Ivy League and the New England All-Stars as a sophomore when he hit .294 with 12 doubles, four homers and 39 RBIs, the last of which were the second most in the conference. In the field he committed just five errors at the hot corner and had a stretch of 58 consecutive errorless games that dated back to his rookie season.

Last season, Lombardi picked up second-team All-Ivy League honors while ranking among the top six in the league with five homers, three triples, 26 RBIs and a .489 slugging percentage, and also tied for the league lead among the third basemen with 91 assists. For his career, he is a .271 hitter with 32 doubles, 11 long balls, 69 runs scored and 101 RBIs.

Lombardi is a studio art major with a 3.08 GPA and volunteered his time to the Special Olympics during his last three years of high school. He currently gives his time in the Upper Valley helping students at the Ledyard Charter School twice a week.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four C's of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2015 College World Series in June.

This is the second consecutive year in which a Dartmouth baseball player has been selected as one of the 30 candidates. Jeff Keller '14 ended up being one of the 10 finalists last year.

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