2016 All-ACC, Third Team
2016 (Junior): Only Yellow Jacket to start all 63 games … Once again combined with Wade Bailey for one of nation’s best double play duos … Tech led nation with school-record 80 double plays … Led team for majority of season in batting average before finishing third on squad with career-best .324 clip … Finished second on team with 80 hits and added 16 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 37 RBI … Patient at plate, leading team with 41 walks and was hit-by-pitch 12 times … Gradually moved up batting order, starting in eight hole, then seventh, then sixth … Finally landed in two hole, standing 28 games there before hitting leadoff for final 29 games … Slick-fielding shortstop named third-team All-ACC … Began season with three straight multi-hit games … Went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases vs. VCU on Feb. 21 … Was 3-for-4 with double, RBI and two runs scored vs. UMBC on Feb. 27 … Tied school record with two triples in game vs. Western Carolina on May 5, finishing 3-for-5 with three RBI … Registered first home run of season at home March 15 vs. Auburn, finishing 2-for-4 with RBI … Hit second homer of season game later against Virginia Tech on March 18, going 3-for-5 with three runs scored … Scored three times at Kennesaw State on March 22 … Tallied two doubles and drove in two runs against Duke on April 2 … Recorded third triple at Pitt on April 8 … Hit solo homer in road win at Georgia State on April 20 … Added another solo dinger and 3-for-6 outing at No. 21 Clemson on April 22 … Went 3-for-5 with two RBI and double in Tech’s 16-1 rout of No. 21 Clemson on April 23 … Added another home run against Clemson in series finale on April 24 … Hit first non-solo home run of career vs. No. 15 Coastal Carolina on April 30 … Went 2-for-3 with two RBI vs. Miami on May 7 … Scored three times vs. Savannah State on May 10 … Went 2-for-4 with two runs scored vs. Bethune-Cookman in NCAA Gainesville Regional elimination game on June 4.
2015 (Sophomore): Started 54 of the team’s 55 games and was again rock-solid defensively… Teamed with freshman Wade Bailey to comprise one of the best up-the-middle defensive tandems in the ACC… Finished fifth in the ACC by fielding 43 double plays… Has fielded 94 double plays in his first two seasons… Hit .249 overall, but his 32 runs were third-most on the club and his 24 RBI were sixth-most… His 23 walks were third-most… Drove in three game-winning runs… Reached safely in four of six plate appearances and added a run, an RBI and a stolen base in Tech’s 17-3 victory over St. John’s on Opening Day… Recorded his first multi-RBI game of the season with a 2-for-5 performance against Florida International on 2/21… Provided production out of the ninth-hole with three RBI, two runs and a stolen base in the Indiana State series sweep… Missed the game versus Notre Dame on 3/7 due to a back injury, snapping a streak of 65 consecutive starts but returned the next day and recorded an RBI single in the 4-1 win… Kick-started a two-run game-tying rally with a leadoff single in the sixth and then lined an RBI single to give Tech a 4-2 lead in the seventh en route to the Jackets’ series-opening win over Duke… Reached safely in 7-of-11 plate appearances against North Carolina including a perfect 2-for-2 with two walks in Tech’s 6-5 win on 3/21… Singled to reach base safely for the 10th straight game and was involved in two of Tech’s season-high four double plays in the 4-1 win over Auburn on 3/24… Came up big in the win over No. 21 Georgia with multiple highlight-reel defensive plays to go along with a two-run double in Tech’s three-run first in Athens… Delivered his best offensive performance of the season against Virginia Tech on 4/3 going 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBI in the 11-5 win… Hit safely in all three games against No. 15 Virginia totaling four hits in 10 trips with four runs scored, including a career-high three runs the 11-4 win… Tallied back-to-back multi-hit games against Clemson on 4/25 and 4/26, highlighted by the game-tying single in the 10th as Tech rallied to win 5-4 and clinch the series… Set a new career-high with four hits against Mercer on 5/6 and led off the ninth inning with his fourth base hit to trigger a decisive five-run rally in the 9-7 win… Blasted his first home run of the year in the regular season finale against Miami on 5/16.
2014 (True Freshman): Enjoyed a breakout rookie season and established himself as one of the ACC’s slickest-fielding shortstops… Made 55 starts, including the final 50 games of the season at shortstop… Played a key role in the Yellow Jackets setting school records for fielding percentage (.974) and double plays (77), while leading the nation in twin killings… Committed just two errors in all 30 starts versus the ACC for a sparkling .985 fielding percentage in conference play… Fielded .968 for the season, including a midseason streak of 25-straight error-free games… Hit .254 for the year, but was clutch with five game-winning hits (second-most on the team) and scoring five game-winning runs… Earned his first career start at second base versus VCU on 2/16 and had an RBI ground out… Recorded his first collegiate hit versus UNCG on 2/22 and scored twice in the UNCG series… Recorded a career-best three-hit effort, with two runs and an RBI versus Wake Forest on 3/8… Came up big as the Jackets won the series from No. 22 Miami, going 5-for-16 (.312) in the series with two RBI, a run and a walk… Tied a career-high with three hits in the series opener versus Miami on 3/14… Drove in the tying run with an RBI single as Tech rallied from 6-0 down to beat the Hurricanes 13-7 in Game 2… In the finale, his first career walk-off hit was a single that scored Keenan Innis with one out in the 10th as Tech won 3-2… Went 2-for-4 at Kennesaw State on 3/19, drove in a career-high two runs and registered his first career extra-base hit (a double)… Drove in the go-ahead run in the 13th inning at No. 13 North Carolina on 3/22 as Tech won 6-5 and delivered a double in the finale to extend his hitting streak to nine games… Played error-free at UNC and helped turn four double plays in the finale and five of the six Tech turned in the series win… Hit his first career home run during a 13-2 win over Georgia Southern on 4/8… Homered again the next night and finished 3-for-5 with a double and a career-high four RBI in the 12-1 win over Savannah State on 4/9… Earned ACC Player of the Week honors after a big series versus No. 1 Florida State, going 4-for-9, with a double, three RBI, two runs and two walks… He finished the week hitting .471, driving in a team-best eight runs and slugging a team-best .941… His two-run single on 4/11 versus FSU made it 5-0 in the first inning and proved to be the difference as the Jackets took the series-opener 5-3… Matched his career-high of three hits and scored a career-best three runs in Tech’s 13-6 win over Maryland on 4/20… His ninth-inning squeeze bunt allowed Tech to tie Mercer at 3-3 and force extras, before the Jackets fell 4-3 in 10 innings… Was limited to just one hit in the Virginia Tech series, but it was a clutch RBI single on 5/3 that broke a 1-1 tie and stood as the game-winner as the Jackets clinched the series in a 3-1 win… Was clutch for the Jackets late in the ACC title game win over Maryland, battling through a nine-pitch at-bat with two runners in scoring position in the eighth before ripping a two-run single up the middle that padded Tech’s lead to 7-4 en route to a 9-4 win.
Before Tech: A four-year letterwinner at Cartersville High School under head coach Stuart Chester … Helped team to three region titles and a state championship in his senior season … Named the 2013 Georgia Dugout Club AAA Player of the Year … Honored as the 2013 East Cobb Baseball/Rawlings Defensive Player of the Year … Named Bartow County Player of the Year in 2013 and first-team All-Southeast Region by Rawlings … A three-time All-Region and two-time All-County shortstop … Graduated as the school record-holder for fewest strikeouts in a single season (four) and started 131 of 133 games over four year career … Member of Spanish Honor Society and four year honor roll student.
Personal: Full name is Connor David Justus … Born Nov. 2, 1994 in Cartersville, Ga. … Son of Barry and Suzi Justus … Has an older sister Morgan … Father, Barry, played baseball at Shorter University … Majoring in business administration.
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