OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-Gonzaga Baseball's Taylor Jones was named a candidate for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award Monday.

Thirty baseball student-athletes from around the country who excel both on and off the diamond were selected as candidates today for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate baseball. 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.

Jones has a .321 career batting average in a Bulldog uniform, amassing 92 hits in 116 games, 74 of them starts. He broke into the starting lineup near the beginning of West Coast Conference play last season and hasn't stopped crushing the ball, earning First Team All-WCC honors as a junior in 2015 and Preseason All-WCC this year. During his senior year, he's hitting .379 with 25 hits â€" 11 for extra bases â€" and 15 RBIs. He's among the WCC's top five in six offensive categories and is top 10 in two more. The Kent, Wash., native has already set career marks for doubles and triples in a year, and he's on pace to post career highs in batting average, runs scored, hits, RBIs, and walks.

As stellar as Jones has been on the diamond, he's been even stronger away from the game. Jones has a 3.50 GPA as an applied communication studies major. He was a large part of the baseball team's 450 hours of community service during the Fall 2015 semester, and he's also been a friendly and helpful leader for everyone in the clubhouse as well. He's also gone wherever the team needed him on the field, starting out as a relief pitcher as a freshman before earning a starting role in 2014 as a sophomore. He decided to forego pitching as a junior and concentrate on hitting and fielding, which led to his breakout year in 2015.

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 2016 College World Series® in June.

For more information and a complete list of all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.