KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Hunter Ensley went 3 for 4, including a three-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning, and No. 1 national seed Tennessee beat Evansville 11-6 on Friday to begin the Knoxville Super Regional.
Tennessee (54-11), playing in its fourth consecutive super regional, can advance to the College World Series with a victory over Evansville (38-25) on Saturday.
Christian Moore became the first Tennessee player ever to hit 30 home runs in a season when he blasted a shot in the third for a 3-2 lead. His error on a routine play at second hurt the Vols in the fifth as Evansville had a two-run double off the wall and an RBI single to center to tie it at 5-all.
Tennessee answered Evansville's three runs in the top of the fifth with three runs in the bottom half.
Blake Burke hit a deep shot off the center-field wall that Ty Rumsey nearly made a fantastic catch, but the ball dropped and Moore scored for a 6-5 lead. Rumsey received some medical attention after it appeared the ball bounced off the wall and hit him in the face.
Ensley hit his 10th home run of the season in the seventh to become the seventh Tennessee player with double-digit home runs this season.
AJ Causey struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings of work to help pick up his 13th victory of the season.
Kenton Deverman (9-2) lost for just the second time this season for Evansville, which is just the ninth No. 4 regional seed to advance to a super regional.
