Tag: Hunter Ensley

Hunter Ensley announces return to Tennessee

Hunter Ensley announces he is returning to Tennessee baseball in 2025.

Tennessee outfielder Hunter Ensley announced on Tuesday he will return for a redshirt senior season in 2025.

“Staying home,” Ensley announced. “Let’s run it back!”

The 6-foot-1, 196-pound Ensley has appeared in 141 games, including 110 starts, at Tennessee from 2021-24. He recorded a .284 batting average, 19 home runs, 79 RBIs, 87 runs, 55 walks, 10 stolen bases and a .992 fielding percentage in four seasons.

Ensley went to Tennessee from Huntingdon High School in Huntingdon, Tennessee.

He won one national championship (2024), two Southeastern Conference Tournament (2022, 2024) titles, two SEC regular-season titles (2022, 2024) and appeared in the College World Series three times (2021, 2023, 2024) with the Vols.

PHOTOS: Tennessee baseball celebrates winning 2024 national championship

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Hunter Ensley details avoiding Aggies’ catcher to score winning run

Hunter Ensley details scoring the winning run against Texas A&M to win the national championship.

Hunter Ensley scored the decisive run during the seventh inning of Tennessee’s 6-5 victory against Texas A&M to win the national championship on Monday.

Ensley made an acrobatic move to avoid Aggies’ catcher Jackson Appel. He discussed the play after Tennessee won the College World Series Final, 2-1.

“I know KT (Kavares Tears) really hit that ball hard,” Ensley said. “You could probably say I was assuming it a little bit, at the very beginning off the bat, that I thought he got enough of it. Peeked in, saw that it stayed in. It took a really good bounce right to (Jace) LaViolette.

“When I saw that, I knew I had to get on my horse. Dean was pretty much telling me outside, outside, outside. And the throw actually ended up carrying the guy to the outside. Just natural instinct trying to make a play right there and get back on the inside part of the bag, and just was able to avoid the tag right there and ended up being a pretty big run.”

Hunter Ensley details Vols’ comeback win to open Knoxville Super Regional

Tennessee center fielder Hunter Ensley details the Vols’ comeback win against Evansville in game No. 1.

Tennessee trailed Evansville, 2-1, entering the bottom of the third inning on Friday in game No. 1 of the Knoxville Super Regional. The Vols and Purple Aces were also tied, 5-5, entering the bottom of the fifth inning before Tennessee clinched an, 11-6, victory.

Tennessee center fielder Hunter Ensley met with media following the contest and discussed the Vols coming from behind to win game No. 1 of a best-of-three series.

“I just think, offensively, our mentality is any given inning we can get you for three, four, five or even more than that,” Ensley said. “Offensively, it is just keeping the foot on the pedal, and if we don’t get it done one inning then we might get it done in the sixth, seventh or eighth. It really doesn’t matter. I just think as good as our lineup is one through nine, we can get you with anybody at any different time.”

Ensley went 3-for-4 against Evansville and hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning. He recorded four RBIs and two runs.

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Vols defeat Missouri to win SEC series

Tennessee baseball defeats Missouri to win SEC series.

No. 3 Tennessee (36-7, 14-6 SEC) defeated Missouri (19-25, 6-14 SEC), 3-2, Friday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Vols clinched a series win against Missouri. Tennessee also won its fifth consecutive contest and recorded eight hits in game No. 2 against the Tigers.

Dean Curley went 2-for-4. He scored one run, while Cal Stark went 1-for-3. Stark recorded one double and one RBI.

Dylan Dreiling went 1-for-3. He recorded one run, while Billy Amick went 2-for-4 for the Vols.

Missouri’s Trevor Austin hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning.

Drew Beam (6-1) pitched 7.1 innings for the Vols. He allowed two runs, six hits and one walk, while recording eight strikeouts.

Aaron Combs recorded the final out of the contest, earning his second save of the season.

Vols hit six home runs in series opening win against Missouri

Tennessee baseball wins series opener against Missouri.

No. 3 Tennessee (35-7, 13-6 SEC) defeated Missouri (19-24, 6-13 SEC), 10-1, Thursday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Tennessee hit six home runs against Missouri, marking the fifth time the Vols have hit five home runs in a game this season.

Billy Amick went 3-for-5. He hit a solo home run and a three-run home run. He recorded four RBIs and two runs, while Christian Moore went 3-for-4. Moore hit a solo home run to lead off the first inning for Tennessee. He recorded two runs and one RBI.

Hunter Ensley went 1-fot-3 and hit a solo home runs for the Vols. Cal Stark also went 1-for-3. Stark hit a three-run home run, while Cannon Peebles hit a pinch-hit solo home run in the eighth inning, his first of the season.

AJ Causey (7-3) pitched six innings in relief for the Vols. He allowed one run, six hits and two walks, while recording six strikeouts.

Chris Stamos started and pitched 2.2 innings and allowed three hits. He recorded three strikeouts.

Matthew Dallas recorded the final out of the game, totaling two pitches.

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire

Ole Miss defeats Vols to tie series

Ole Miss baseball defeats the Vols to tie series.

Ole Miss (17-7, 3-2 SEC) defeated No. 7 Tennessee (20-4, 2-3 SEC), 8-5, Saturday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

The Rebels tied the Southeastern Conference series.

Hunter Ensley went 3-for-4 and recorded one home run, one double, two RBIs and one run for the Vols.

Blake Burke went 1-for-4, recoding one run and one stolen base, while Kavares Tears went 1-for-4 and recorded one run. Billy Amick went 1-for-4 and scored one run for Tennessee.

AJ Russell (0-1) pitched three innings and allowed four runs, two hits and six walks. He recorded three strikeouts for Tennessee.

Drew Beam started for the Vols and pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) and six hits. He recorded five strikeouts.

Vols defeat Kansas State, extend win streak to 11 games

Tennessee baseball defeats Kansas State and extends win streak to 11 games.

No. 8 Tennessee (12-1) defeated Kansas State (7-4), 15-5, Tuesday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Tuesday’s win is Tennessee’s 11th consecutive.

The Vols recorded 17 hits, including four doubles and six home runs, against Kansas State.

Dean Curley went 3-for-5, recording three home runs and nine RBIs. Blake Burke went 2-for-5, recording two doubles and one RBI.

Billy Amick, Christian Moore and Dylan Dreiling also hit home runs for the Vols.

Cannon Peebles and Hunter Ensley each hit doubles in the contest for Tennessee.

Nate Snead (3-0) pitched four innings of relief to earn a victory. He allowed two runs (one earned), four hits and three walks. Snead recorded one strikeout.

Oklahoma defeats Vols in extra innings

Oklahoma baseball defeats Tennessee in extra innings.

Oklahoma (1-1) defeated No. 9 Tennessee (1-1), 5-1 in 10 innings, Saturday in the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Rankings reflect the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll.

Oklahoma led, 1-0, in the fourth inning, before the Vols scored after a solo home run by Dylan Dreiling.

Oklahoma scored four runs in the tenth inning.

Dreiling went 2-for-3 with one home run and one double. Christian Moore went 2-for-4 with one double, while Hunter Ensley recorded two hits for Tennessee.

Drew Beam started and pitched 5.2 innings for the Vols, recording two strikeouts and allowing seven hits and one run.

Aaron Combs (0-1) allowed one hit, three runs and three walks, while recording four strikeouts for Tennessee.

No. 8 Tennessee defeats Texas Tech on opening day

No. 8 Tennessee defeats No. 22 Texas Tech on opening day.

No. 8 Tennessee (1-0) defeated No. 22 Texas Tech (0-1), 6-2, Friday in the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, home of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers.

Rankings reflect the USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll.

Tennessee led, 2-0, after Billy Amick hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning. Hunter Ensley and Bradke Lohry also recorded RBIs for the Vols.

AJ Causey (1-0) pitched 4.2 innings of scoreless relief for Tennessee. He allowed two hits and recorded seven strikeouts.

AJ Russell started for the Vols and pitched 4.1 innings, allowing two earned runs, three hits and one walk. He totaled 10 strikeouts.

10,992 were in attendance at Globe Life Field.

2024 Tennessee baseball preview: Hunter Ensley

2024 Tennessee baseball preview: Hunter Ensley

Tennessee will open its 2024 season on Friday versus Texas Tech (8 p.m. EST) in the Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown presented by Kubota.

The Shriners Children’s College Baseball Showdown will take place at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, home of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers.

Tennessee, Baylor, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas Tech are part of the field. The Vols will also play Oklahoma on Saturday, while facing Baylor on Sunday.

Redshirt junior outfielder Hunter Ensley enters his fourth season at Tennessee in 2024. He received a medical redshirt in 2021 and has appeared in two College World Series appearances during his time with the Vols (2021, 2023).

The 6-foot-1, 196-pound Ensley has appeared in 73 games, including 50 starts, from 2021-23. He has recorded a ,271 batting average, seven home runs, 31 RBIs, 42 runs, 28 walks and six stolen bases.

Enlsey also has recorded a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire