Brett Renfrow pitched well and the Hokies were solid defensively, but their offense sputtered on Friday. (Virginia Tech athletics)

DURHAM, N.C. — After Virginia Tech baseball’s 6-3 loss to Duke following Friday’s 11th inning, Hokies reliever Cameron LeJeune sat dejected on the makeshift mound situated near the visiting dugout at Jack Coombs Field. 

It was where the McNeese State transfer warmed up before taking over a 3-3 game in the seventh inning. He pitched nearly four innings of scoreless baseball before returning to it, taking a seat and staring at the Durham sky. As if he’d realized something upsetting, he looked back down and began aggressively unzipping and rezipping his bag. A shoe or two was thrown, but not awfully far. 

He was understandably upset. With two outs in the bottom of the 11th, Duke sophomore AJ Gracia belted a game-winning home run off LeJeune, manufacturing a final score that aligned more with the game’s tone than the tie it held for the previous four innings. 

You could feel it coming. Though he held the Blue Devils scoreless for much of his outing, LeJeune eked out of the final three innings despite a never-ending barrage of near-home runs. Many hooked foul, some were caught at the warning track and one was only kept from the woods behind left field because Ben Watson leaped and slapped it back into the outfield. 

But with runners on the corners, Gracia’s ball finally made its way out. And despite LeJeune’s postgame despondence, he wasn’t to blame. The offense behind him was once again anemic, going down in 1-2-3 fashion in seven of the game’s 11 innings and recording just five hits.

“Stuff happens,” Tech coach John Szefc said of LeJeune’s finish. “To me, he got us into the 11th inning, and I give him credit.” 

Other highlights, like a two-run David Lewis homer in the seventh and a host of other absurd defensive plays by Watson, also helped the Hokies get to that point. They just couldn’t find the big hit to pull ahead — or really any other hits besides the designated hitter’s tank.

With his home run and 10th-inning single — in which Lewis overzealously went for second base and got tagged out — out of the equation, Tech batted just 3-for-33. Watson, McCann and Grady accounted for those hits, with Grady’s being the only one to come around. While Duke, who had 11 hits to Tech’s five, put bats on nearly every pitch in extra innings, the Hokies had just two baserunners, both of whom never made it past their initial base. 

Blue Devils reliever Reid Easterly (three hits allowed, four Ks over 4 ⅓ innings) accounted for Tech’s inability to create down the stretch, but starter Owen Proksch chronicled one of the better ACC outings of the entire season. 

Through the first six innings of the game, Proksch tallied 10 strikeouts while allowing just two hits, both of which happened to round the bases. He averaged just 4.5 tosses per out after finishing with 89 pitches — an efficient start that led to yet another two-arm pitching attack against the Hokies. In their last seven ACC games — which they’re 1-6 in — they’ve forced a staff to burn more than two arms just once. 

“I don't know that anything went wrong offensively, [Proksch] is just really good,” Szefc said. “He’s got a real funky angle. He throws three pitches for strikes. He’s one of the best lefties in the league pitching at home on Friday. That’s what Friday night guys in this league are supposed to do. That’s what he did.”

Tech’s Game 1 starter, lefty Brett Renfrow, finished strong despite rough patches and a wealth of Blue Devils contact. Ben Rounds and Ben Miller labeled solo shots off Renfrow in the second and fifth innings, respectively, but the sophomore eventually settled back in after both. He finished with six strikeouts in as many innings, with his only other blight being Jake Berger’s RBI single three at-bats after Rounds’ homer. 

Fellow sophomore Preston Crowl relieved Renfrow to begin the seventh, notching two outs in four batters before LeJeune took over and ended the inning in four pitches.  

Yet, Watson’s defense was just as vital as any arm. The 2024 ACC batting champion is known for just that, but he executed a slew of highlights at left field to keep Tech in the game on Friday. 

“He saved us a few times,” Szefc said. “Obviously kept us in the game. And he’s just really good, he plays like a pro outfielder, pretty much.”

With two outs in the fourth inning, Berger lined a sure double that curled into sharp left field. Watson, tracking it as soon as it came off the bat, sprinted into the corner in time and sprawled out to make the catch. He made an equally-impressive haul four frames later, sliding for a shallow Macon Winslow flyout to get the Hokies out of the eighth.

Playing a team that ranks third in the ACC in home runs, Virginia Tech was positioned deep into the outfield on Friday. Most times, it helped. Other times, it forced Watson to create unbelievable defensive plays — which he did without fail. His next was in the ninth inning. 

With Berger on second after a double, Wallace Clark knocked a LeJeune pitch into left-center field, convincing Berger — or more accurately, his third base coach — to try home for the walk-off run. Watson fielded the ball and hurled it on target to catcher Henry Cooke, who had more than enough time to make the game-saving tag. 

Watson was busy in the final inning as well. Winslow had the distance to end the game off LeJeune’s second pitch of the 11th, but Watson blocked the ball with his glove and deposited it back onto the outfield. He hauled in another near homer at the warning track next batter. 

“I just try to save runs when I can,” Watson said. “If the ball goes up, I just do everything I can to catch it, just play my butt off.”

He was probably the only person unimpressed by his game-extending near robbery in the final frame. 

“That was the first time I almost robbed it and didn’t, at least I kept it in,” Watson said. “I was playing pretty deep. I knew it was probably gonna go over, and I had to just try to get my glove on it, at least. But it was in my glove. I think I should’ve came down with it.

Despite Watson’s efforts, the walk-off homer came later that inning. Virginia Tech hopes to stay consistent on defense and shore up its offense in Game 2 on Saturday, which begins at 3 p.m. ET on ACC Network Extra.

Box Score: Duke 6, Virginia Tech 3 (11 innings)