Virginia Tech Baseball Claims Game 1 Vs Clemson With 5-1 Win

Blacksburg, VA — Behind a 7.1-inning gem from Brett Renfrow and a four-run sixth inning, the Hokies comfortably claimed game-one of the team's final regular season series.

“Well, it’s huge," Virginia Tech Head Coach John Szefc said after the game. "If you’re going to play your best, your best players have got to play their best. Your guy comes out on a Friday night and does what he does... Those guys delivered. Give them a ton of credit. Pitch and play defense — we got really good defensive play too.”

𝙂𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙒𝙄𝙉𝙉𝙀𝙍𝙎 ☝️

≫ @DeltaDentalofVA #Hokies 🦃⚾️ pic.twitter.com/HtmbRzyusN
— Virginia Tech Baseball (@HokiesBaseball) May 15, 2026

The Hokies (28-22, 14-14 ACC) jumped ahead early on the Tigers (30-24, 9-19 ACC).

In the bottom half of the first, Sam Grube hit a lead-off single and Ethan Gibson followed that with a ground-rule double of his own. After that, Henry Cooke — continuing his recent hot-streak — grounded a pitch right back up the middle for an RBI single. Ethan Gibson tried to make it a two-rbi knock, but he was narrowly thrown out at home.

The game would go scoreless for quite a while after that.

Brett Renfrow really settled in. He set down the first seven batters he faced before surrendering a one-out single to Bryce Clavon.

Renfrow went on to finish his start — likely his final one in Blacksburg — throwing 7.1 innings, allowing one earned run, and striking out five batters in the game.

“Our team is going to more or less play as he pitches in a situation like this, and that’s exactly what happened," Szefc said. "They played very sharp defense behind him. He was in the zone all night long. I’m telling you, they’re a better hitting team and a better team than people might portray them to be. It’s an important series, and we’re trying to win every conference series. You’re only going to be as good as the guys on the mound are.”

Renfrow appeared emotional after the outing as well, stating the meaning of the start to him.

“It means a lot being out there with all the guys and competing for the last time at home. This place has been great for me.”

The game continued scoreless, and the Hokies went without a hit between the first and sixth innings.

The game was blown open in the sixth.

Clemson's first reliever, Danny Nelson, threw three scoresless innings to start his outing, but a one-out walk to Sam Gates sparked the Virginia Tech offense.

Pete Daniel followed the walk with a triple over the head of Clemson's centerfielder, and Hudson Lutterman did the same right after for a ground-rule double. That quickly plated two runs, making it 3-0.

The game was blown open with the next swing.

“Coach Szefc told me to be ready for the first pitch," Petrich said. "I kind of figured it’d be a slider, got a slider middle-in and just tried to put my best swing on it.”

And put the best swing on it is exactly what he did, launching a 388-foot big fly over the left field wall, scoring himself and Hudson Lutterman and giving the Hokies a comfortable 5-0 cushion.

Clemson did begin to chip away in the seventh, though.

With Brett Renfrow still on the mound, Clemson's first two batters went down in order before a two-out rally was put together, starting with a double from Jack Crighton before Tyler Lichtenberger grounded a single into right field, scoring Crighton and cutting the Virginia Tech lead to four.

Renfrow came back out in the eighth, getting the first out before walking a batter.

The Hokies then made the call to Preston Crowl, who set down all five batters he faced with a pair of strikeouts on the way to securing the 5-1 win.

In a monumental win for Virginia Tech, they have taken game one and are now just a single game away from clinching the series and likely locking themselves into the ACC tournament, regardless of what happens in Charlotte.

Game two — and senior day — is tomorrow at 3 P.M.

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