Tennessee’s senior day ceremony before Tuesday’s baseball game against Belmont was low on quantity and high on quality.
Hunter Ensley was the lone Volunteers player honored, and the 6-foot-1, 197-pounder from Huntingdon made the most of his final regular-season game in Lindsey Nelson Stadium with an infield hit in the first inning and a home run to left field in the second. Ensley’s homer followed a three-run blast to right by Andrew Fischer and put Tennessee up 5-0, and the Vols would go on to a 9-4 triumph.
At the start of the third inning, Ensley made the usual trek out to center field before being taken out of the game to a standing ovation.
“It was awesome, obviously,” Ensley said afterward during a news conference. “It’s the last home game on our schedule right now, and we’re not really sure what’s going to happen down the road, but tonight was cool. When I was a young guy here, I kind of wanted to be the guy who got the standing ovation like Evan Russell, Drew Gilbert and Jordan Beck did.
“This will be something I cherish a little bit more down the road.”