No. 12/17 Tennessee started the final week of the regular season with a solid 9-4 victory over in-state foe Belmont on Senior Night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.
The Volunteers had to once again battle the elements, weathering a 58-minute rain and lightning delay in the bottom of the second inning, before securing their 40th win of the year.
The Big Orange jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead thanks to a five-run second inning and scored four more runs in the bottom of the seventh to all but put the game away after the Bruins had cut their deficit to 5-3 in the top of the inning.
Ensley Honored on Senior Night
Prior to the game, Hunter Ensley was the lone UT player honored on Senior Night and went on to make the most of his final regular-season home contest on Rocky Top.
The redshirt senior center fielder singled in his first at-bat before hitting a 396-foot blast onto the third level of the porches in his second plate appearance as part of the Vols' five-run second inning.
Following the weather delay, Ensley was greeted with a standing ovation from the Volunteer faithful when he trotted in from center field prior to the start of the third inning.
Fischer Continues Hot Streak
Andrew Fischer continued his hot streak at the plate, as well, going 2-for-4 with his fourth home run in the past three games. The junior first baseman hit a three-run moonshot over the right-field wall to give Tennessee a 4-0 lead one batter before Ensley's solo homer made it 5-0.
Fischer also kept his on-base streak alive, which now stands at 56 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Pitching Notables
Michael Sharman provided the Vols with another nice start, tossing two scoreless innings to open the game prior to the weather delay.
Fellow junior college transfer Thomas Crabtree earned the win to improve to 2-0 after striking out three batters over the next two innings.
Andrew Behnke, Austin Breedlove and Brayden Krenzel also saw action out of the bullpen for UT on the night.
Making the Most of Midweeks
With Tuesday's victory, the Vols finished the season with an impressive 14-1 record in their midweek games.
Up Next
Tennessee concludes its regular-season slate with a road series at No. 5/8 Arkansas starting on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET. Two of the three games in the Vols' ranked showdown with the Razorbacks are slated to be televised with Thursday's contest on ESPN2 and Saturday's series finale on the SEC Network.