Hunter Ensley still doesn't mind his surroundings.

In a familiar display from Tennessee's College World Series run last June, the Vols' veteran center fielder followed a ball as it carried towards the wall at Lindsey Nelson Stadium Tuesday.

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Ensley leapt up, gloved it and then smashed into the wall before crashing backward to the turf. Tennessee, which had given up three runs and its lead to Radford in the fifth inning, had made another momentum changing grab.

Then he gave the Vols the lead for good, doubling to left field to cap off a sequence that helped turn Tennessee's closer-than-expected midweek tilt into run-rule route of the Highlanders, 22-9 in seven innings.

The Vols (12-0) got hits in spurts at first. Dean Curley and Andrew Fischer both homered to answer a three-run first from Radford (5-6). Then Tennessee put together a seven-run third on just three hits, one of which was a grand slam from Reese Chapman.

The Highlanders hung around, drawing even in the fifth, but Fischer broke it open with the Vols' second grand slam in the seventh and Radford never recovered. Blake Grimmer hit another in the same inning for a single-game program record three grand slams to finish it off.

Tennessee, which hit 12 last season, has seven through 12 games, halfway to the NCAA Division I record of 14.

Nic Abraham's debut got off to a rough.

The freshman right-hander gave up back-to-back hits against the leadoff and two-hole hitters, then followed both up with walk to load the bases with no outs.

James Ward relieved some of the pressure when he grounded into a double play, though Radford got a run across to take the lead.

Left-handed reliever Michael Sharman made an early appearance, taking over for Abraham and inheriting a runner on third, but the Vols were unable to get out of the inning.

Dean Curley's throw from short after fielding a grounder went wide for an error, and Levi Clark couldn't get a handle on another. The Highlanders scored two more before ended the frame down 3-0.

Tennessee's response was swift. Curley made up for the error with a lead-off home run off of the batter's eye that covered 402 feet in the bottom half of the first. Andrew Fischer added another four at-bats later to trimp the Vols' deficit to 3-2.

Radford got one back in the second on another fielding error on Curley, but Sharman settled in. He struck out the side in the third and set Tennessee's lineup for its most productive inning yet in the bottom third.

With the bases loaded and one out, Reese Chapman, who entered the game with a hit in each of the Vols' previous 11 games, extended that streak with a grand slam--Tennessee's fifth in 12 games--and provided its first lead at 6-4.

It opened the way for a seven-run frame, all on just three hits, including an RBI single from Gavin Kilen to push the Vols' advantage to 9-4 through three.

Radford answered again in the fourth, but the damage could have been worse. Jhonkeanu Perez grounded into a double play that took away two potential runs, keeping Tennessee in front, 9-6.

But the Highlanders weren't going away, and the Vols couldn't find an answer from their bullpen for much of the fifth when they gave up three runs that evened the score at 9-9 before Dylan Loy took over.

Loy got two quick strikes, but Hunter Ensley was the headliner. His catch running into the wall got Tennessee out of the inning, then Ensley followed it up with two-out RBI double to left that scored Curley and put the Vols in the lead again, 10-9.

Loy held the Radford lineup off in the sixth, retiring the side with a fly out and back-to-back strikeouts to send Tennessee back to the plate. Fischer led off with a walk and Levi Clark singled to left to set up with Stone Lawless' RBI double down the line in right to up the lead to 11-9.

Ensley drew a bases-loaded walk to add another in the seventh, but Fischer provided the knockout blow with his second home run and another grand slam for the Vols to push their season total six and Tennessee's lead to a commanding 16-9.

Tennessee will have a quick turnaround.

The Vols play the second of two midweek games this week against Xavier on Wednesday (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at Lindsey Nelson Stadium.

Tennessee hosts St. Bonaventure in a three-game series this weekend, its final non-conference series of the regular season before opening SEC play at home against No. 7 Florida on March 14-16.

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