Justin Pope - Baseball (1999-01) - Class of 2013
Selected in the first round (28th overall) in the 2001 MLB Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals, Justin Pope was an All-American in 2001, as well as an ABCA All-Atlantic Region First Team pick. He was named 2001 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year, and to the A-Sun All-Tournament Team that same year.
Pope was twice named an All-A-Sun performer, and broke Roger Clemens' NCAA record by pitching 38.1 consecutive innings without giving up a run in 2001 (it was later broken, but still ranked among the top performances in college baseball history).
UCF's career leader with 32 wins and 335 strikeouts, Pope ranked second all-time with 49 starts on the mound, third with three shutouts, fifth with 310.0 innings pitched and seventh by averaging 9.73 strikeouts per nine innings when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
He formed a 1-2 punch with current UCF Athletics Hall of Fame pitcher Jason Arnold as they helped guide the Knights to the NCAA Regionals in 2000 and 2001. UCF was ranked as high as No. 7 in the country in 2001.
In 2000, the Knights had big victories over No. 5 Alabama, No. 7 Florida State, No. 1 LSU, No. 21 Wake Forest and No. 24 Clemson. The next year, they posted a weekend sweep at home against No. 11 Alabama in the first year of Jay Bergman Field, and also swept No. 8 Stetson on the road
Born in West Palm Beach, Fla., and a native of Lake Worth, Fla., Pope graduated from Wellington High School, and was commonly referred to as "Bulldog" while at UCF. He played for eight seasons in the minor leagues, mostly in the New York Yankees organization, and later was hired as the manager for the Staten Island Yankees (Class A).