DURHAM – The feeling in Duke’s dugout was if the Blue Devils could keep the deficit within reach, they’d find a way to break through.

They did that with Macon Winslow’s game-tying home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning.

But they walked through for the win.

Jake Hyde’s bases-loaded walk delivered a walk-off win for Duke, which beat Pittsburgh 4-3 on Wednesday night in the second round of the ACC tournament at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

“I think there was kind of a feeling in our dugout the whole time like, ‘If we keep this thing close, we’re going to break through here late,’” coach Chris Pollard said. “Between executing a few pitches and making a few plays defensively to get off the field, ‘Just keep it right here and we’ll press through and score some runs.’”

Duke (37-18) advances in the tournament it won last season and will face No. 2 seed Florida State at 3 p.m. Friday in a quarterfinal game.

That comes after the Blue Devils pulled off a late-innings rally reminiscent of last year’s run to the title. Duke gave up a run in the top of the first, trailed 3-0 after three, and never led until Wallace Clark crossed the plate because of Hyde’s five-pitch walk.

Winslow led off the ninth with the game-tying homer, pulled slightly to left-center field and hitting the scoreboard to the right of the Blue Monster. Clark reached on an error and AJ Gracia blooped a single into shallow left field — his third hit of the night, along with an RBI double and solo homer to account for Duke’s only two runs before the ninth.

Pitt (28-27) opted to walk Ben Miller and load the bases for a left-on-left matchup against Hyde. Pitt’s Patrick Gardner entered in the fourth inning, stranding two runners and keeping the Blue Devils’ powerful offense mostly in check.

“For me, Ben Miller is a sixth-year (player). I mean, we’ve got Pittsburgh Pirates that haven’t been there that long,” Pitt coach Mike Bell said. “You’re not going to let the best guy beat you. … And I’m going to go with my guy on the mound.”

Until the ninth-inning magic, the story of this game was largely Duke missing opportunities.

Duke put the leadoff batter on base in three of the first four innings. But the Blue Devils didn’t score until the fourth time a leadoff batter reached, which was Clark’s walk followed by Gracia’s double into the right-center gap in the fifth.

Even then, though, it was a missed scoring chance; Gracia moved up to third on a flyout to the wall in centerfield and was stranded there after a pop up in foul territory and a groundout.

The sophomore centerfielder got all of low pitch to line it over the fence in right field. Gracia’s 13th homer of the season, and 11th since the start of April, made it a 3-2 game in the seventh.

In the next inning was the best of several stellar defensive plays by Duke that kept the Blue Devils within striking distance.

With runners at the corners and two outs, Jayden Melendez struck out swinging at a pitch in the dirt. The ball trickled away from Winslow, who scrambled to his right, barehanded it and fired to first base to barely get Melendez and end the inning.

That meant Winslow had the biggest defensive play and biggest hit in the late innings for the Blue Devils.

“Going into that at-bat, I just wanted to give my teammates the chance to win,” the sophomore catcher said. “That in mind, just … hunting the middle of the zone and putting my best swing on it.”