Hunter Ensley’s best at-bat Saturday might have been lost to memory by the time Tennessee baseball’s onslaught ended at Florida.

The Vols outfielder battled through a nine pitch at-bat in the fourth inning, crushing the ninth offering off the wall for a two-run double. It was the first of three monumental swings for the redshirt junior, who came back with another two-run double and three-run homer in the sixth inning to swing the Vols to a series win at Florida’s Condron Ballpark.

No. 3 Tennessee (39-9, 17-7 SEC) demolished Florida (24-23, 10-14) 16-3, scoring the final 16 runs to win the finale.

Ensley was 3-for-4 with seven RBIs Saturday as Tennessee kept pace with Kentucky in the SEC East standings. UT won the opener 6-2 before falling 4-3 in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader.

Hunter Ensley leads Tennessee’s 11-run sixth inning to win series at Florida

Tennessee trailed by one entering the sixth Saturday. It led by 10 when the top half of the inning ended.

UT’s sixth-inning assault spanned 14 hitters and 73 pitches from three Florida pitchers. Ensley had the two largest swings with a two-run double and the three-run homer for a five RBI inning.

The inning started with a Kavares Tears walk and a Dylan Dreiling double. Dean Curley single in Tears to tie the game 3-3 before Ensley put Tennessee ahead 5-3. The Vols scored three more on a Blake Burke walk, a Billy Amick sacrifice fly, and a dropped third strike with a throwing error that allowed Tears to reach. Curley singled in another run before Ensley slugged his homer.

AJ Causey continues to be a star long reliever for Vols

AJ Causey worked three innings of great relief before a rocky start to the eighth. He hit a batter then gave up a single to put runners on the corners with no outs. The Vols reliever got a strikeout and a double play to get out of the threat.

Causey was on for the third time in four relief appearances. He had seven strikeouts in four scoreless innings, including setting down 11 straight. He allowed four hits and walked none before departing in the ninth.

It marked the third time in the past four weekend that Causey allowed one run or less while throwing four or more innings with at least six strikeouts.

Tennessee’s bottom of the order had a terrible Friday doubleheader

Curley singled to right in the second inning of the series opener Friday to score a run. That was the biggest contribution from the hitters in the bottom five spots of UT’s lineup in the first two games.

CHASE: Inside Blake Burke and Christian Moore’s homer-bashing, record-trading chase for Tennessee baseball

The players in those spots went 3-for-32 with 20 strikeouts in the doubleheader. They had five walks and three hit by pitches. Reece Chapman’s sacrifice fly in the opener was the only RBI beyond Curley’s RBI single. Chapman struck out five times in six at-bats. Ensley had four strikeouts.

Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee athletics. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @ByMikeWilson. If you enjoy Mike’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida wildlife experts recently released dozens of eastern indigo snakes into the wild with the hopes of restoring native ecosystems.

The Nature Conservancy, in coordination with several groups, took part in the release that happened in conservation lands along the Apalachicola River in the Florida Panhandle.

The eastern indigo snakes are designated as a threatened species and is the longest native snake in North America, growing up to eight feet long.

Biologists say the species disappeared from large stretches of the Southeast in the 1980s but could be on the verge of turning the corner with recent conservation efforts.

“With increasing numbers of snakes released over time and successful reproduction, the indigo is gaining momentum to return to the landscape where it belongs,” Michele Elmore, a biologist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a statement.

The 41 snakes were bred and raised for two years at a facility operated by the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens.

MASSIVE BURMESE PYTHON CAUGHT SLITHERING THROUGH SWAMPS OF SOUTH FLORIDA

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates that the bluish-black-colored snake loses more than 5% of its habitat every year due to various causes, including fragmentation, where a road or other development splits its territory.

The snakes released into the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve are just a few years away from being able to reproduce and could live longer than 20 years.

According to biologists, they are not dangerous to people or pets and have a diet that consists of small animals, including other snakes.

“This project continues to be one of the gold standard conservation projects in Florida, and we are grateful for the many partnerships that contribute to our mission, values and shared goals,” Brad O’Hanlon, a reptile and amphibian conservation coordinator at the FWC, stated.

UNIVERSITY RELEASES ‘SPY’ PYTHONS IN EVERGLADES TO BETTER UNDERSTAND INVASIVE SPECIES

The Nature Conservancy group says during the past year several snakes from previous releases have been spotted, including two wild-born hatchlings from released offspring.

“With the recent news of the indigo hatchling discovery at ABRP, we can see that our combined efforts are paving the way toward the ultimate goal of a self-sustaining wild indigo population,” Dr. James Bogan Jr., the director of Central Florida Zoo’s Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation, stated.

Researchers conduct surveys on foot and with the help of trail cameras located near burrows and other high-traveled areas.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service says it plans to reintroduce 600 snakes in Alabama and Florida as part of the restoration program.

The 2024 Kentucky Derby is set to run Saturday evening, and there will be plenty of Florida influence.

It’s no big surprise. The Ocala Breeders’ Sales are among the biggest in the country for horse owners. There are world-class farms across the state, from Marion County to Payson Park in Martin County. Two races, the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach and the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, are feeders to the annual Run for the Roses.

There are 14 horses with ties to Florida running in the 2024 Kentucky Derby. Here’s a quick look at them:

Just a Touch

• Position: 8
• Ocala Breeders’ Sales history: Bought at auction April 28, 2023, for $3,000

Forever Young

• Position: 12
• Owner: Breezy Hall LLC’s Mike Hall, Ocala farm owner and member of Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association board of directors

• Position: 16
• Trainer: Victor Barboza Jr., previous leading trainer at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach
• Jockey: Emisael Jamarillo, moved from Venezuela to South Florida in 2015
• Schooled by: Keifer Rengifo at Golden Rock Thoroughbreds in Citra
• Florida Derby 2024 finish: Third

• Position: 17
• Trainer: Todd Pletcher, whose father, JJ Pletcher, has a training center in Ocala, and whose mother, Joan Pletcher, sells high-end horse farms
• Early training: Ocala Stud Farm
• Florida Derby 2024 finish: First