Hunter Ensley explains wild slide that ended up winning Tennessee a National Championship

What a moment it was.

At the time, Hunter Ensley’s slide just seemed like a really cool cherry on top of Tennessee’s likely National Championship. In reality, it ended up being the insurance run that gave the Volunteers their first ever baseball national title.

Texas A&M came storming back in the later innings to make it a game, coming up just short and losing 6-5. Ensley’s wild juke-move slide was the difference — a play none of us will forget for a very long time.

Ensley explained the move during the postgame press conference.

“I know K.T. really hit that ball hard,” Ensley said after the game. “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 LaViolette.

“When I saw that I knew I had to get on my horse.”

Off of the bat of Tears, it really did appear the ball was headed over the fence. But the big dimensions of Charles Schwab Field did just enough to keep the ball in the park. Ensley appeared to be dead in the water on the relay, but an acrobatic move to the inside was just enough to avoid the tag.

“Dean was pretty much telling me outside, outside, outside. And the throw actually ended up carrying the guy to the outside,” Ensley continued. “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.”

The Aggies ended up putting two on the board in the 8th, then two more in the 9th. Tennessee needed every ounce of that Ensley slide, making it a truly legendary moment that will live on forever.