NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Everybody loves the long ball. Justin Journette loves hitting them and now everybody who takes a look at the Norfolk State record book will see that.
Journette was honored during a pregame ceremony Friday afternoon at Marty Miller Field ahead of NSU's doubleheader with Mercyhurst for breaking the Spartans' career home run record. Journette clubbed his record-breaking 36th career bomb a week ago against Central Connecticut State, then added to his tally with home run number 37 in game two of that doubleheader.
"When I first came in here, I never thought I would be in the record books, or even close to breaking a record," he said Friday. "I thought it was pretty cool."
"Records are made to be broken and he's as deserving as anybody," Spartans' head coach Keith Shumate added. "Just a credit to him and all the hard work he's put in. He deserves all the credit and hopefully he can keep on doing his for quite awhile."
Journette, a junior outfielder from Richmond, broke the home run mark that had stood since 1989. As a freshman in 2023, he burst onto the scene and led the team with eight home runs, following that up with 15 dingers last season. So far this year, Journette has clubbed 13 homers and still has seven games remaining to add to his total.
"Coming out of high school, I didn't really have any offers and coming here, I didn't know if I was really going to play that much," he recalled. "Just breaking a record, it's really awesome."
Despite a lackluster season in the win column (Norfolk State entered Friday 2-31), the green and gold have had several bright spots, headlined by Journette. Entering Friday, he not only led NSU in round-trippers, but also in batting average (.341), OPS (1.098) and RBI (33).
Following Friday's doubleheader against the Lakers, the two teams will wrap up their series Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM. Norfolk State will hit the road next weekend for a three game set at Delaware State before wrapping up the season at home with a weekend series with Maryland-Eastern Shore.
