OMAHA, Neb. — Tennessee baseball center fielder Hunter Ensley exited the Vols’ College World Series matchup against North Carolina with an apparent injury on Sunday night. Colby Backus replaced him in center field to start off the fifth inning.
Ensley made the most impressive defensive play of Tennessee’s season in the second inning when he went running full speed into the center field to take an extra-base hit away from Anthony Donofrio.
TOUGH 😤
📺 https://t.co/ABe8OpapXI (ESPN2)#GBO // #OTH // #MCWS // #BeatUNC pic.twitter.com/JshkrmxMQm
— Tennessee Baseball (@Vol_Baseball) June 16, 2024
“He was just wobbly and also banged his leg into the wall,” Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said on the broadcast. “He said he didn’t really realize it until the very next ball was hit to him, and then I guess after the adrenaline calmed down, kinda realized — again he was kinda wobbly so better safe than sorry we feel.”
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When returning from the dugout, Ensley was holding his hamstring and was sitting in a chair in the dugout.
Ensley was the second batter due up in the bottom of the second inning and he stayed in to hit, lining out to third base. The redshirt junior went down the tunnel into the bowels of the stadium with trainer Jeff Wood following the bat before coming back out to the field to play defense in the top half of the third inning.
The center fielder stayed in the game for the next two innings and came up the the plate again in the fourth inning when he struck out on a 2-2 back foot breaking ball. After the half inning, Backus replaced Ensley in center field.
Tennessee baseball leads North Carolina 3-0 in the fifth inning at the time of publication. Stay tuned at RockyTopInsider.com all night for complete game coverage and any updates on Ensley’s injury that become available.
