Tennessee baseball's veteran centerfielder Hunter Ensley was the difference on Friday.

Due to his brilliance in all phases of the game, the No. 15 Vols took game one vs. in-state rival No. 11 Vanderbilt 3-2 in Knoxville.

The first highlight came in the bottom of the sixth. Ensley, dead to rights at home plate, avoided the tag in a manner similar to last season's College World Series slide. After putting this run on the board, he robbed a home run in the following frame to keep the lead intact for Tennessee (39-11, 15-10 SEC).

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Ensley finished the day against the Commodores (34-16, 14-11) 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and run scored. He also recorded four put-outs and an assist on defense in center field.

On the mound, it was Liam Doyle, the Vols' ace, getting the ball. After a strange weekend full of weather delays messing up his outing last series, he got back on track. This was in the form of a seven inning outing in which he gave up just three hits, no walks, no runs and struck out 12 batters. He threw 100 pitches.

In relief, Tanner Franklin took over. He threw one inning while allowing two hits and a run to cross. He was replaced by Dylan Loy who allowed a solo shot. Nate Snead came in afterward to earn the save.

Doyle got the game started by recording a 1-2-3 inning. However, despite not allowing a runner, it took him 20 pitches to get out of the frame.

After the three up, three down innings in the bottom of the first and top of the second, as well, Tennessee go the bats going. The Vols used a leadoff double from Dalton Bargo and single on a play that could've been made in the infield off the bat by Dean Curley to get runners on the corners with no outs.

Reese Chapman singled to center to push across Bargo and take a 1-0 lead in the following at-bat. With a wild pitch pushing both runners to scoring position with no outs, the Vols couldn't grab another run, though. Instead, the runners were stranded.

Doyle would give up his first hit of the game in the third, but limited the damage to just the single.

Vanderbilt added another single in the fourth, too, but couldn't get anything going past that. Tennessee responded by getting Curley on with a one-out double, but stranded him and Cannon Peebles who walked.

Doyle would give up a single in the third-straight inning in the fifth, but once again didn't let the Commodores add anything more. In the sixth, he sat down the side in order to snap the trend.

In the bottom of the sixth, Ensley led off the inning with a double. After Bargo dropped a ball into shallow left, Ensley was waved home. Despite the throw beating him, he avoided the tag showing shades of his slide in the College World Series title a year ago.

That would be it for Tennessee in the inning, though, leaving the score at 2-0.

In the top of the seventh, it appeared Vanderbilt was going to tie the game. The Commodores used a ball headed over the wall in dead-center with a runner on to attempt to provide the tying blow.

However, Ensley came up huge, again, robbing the home run. Upon review, it was deemed the Vanderbilt runner passed second and didn't retouch the bag before returning to first. This caused an inning-ending double play.

In the bottom of the seventh, Tennessee added another run. After Peebles singled and moved to third, Manny Marin singled to push him in.

Headed to the eighth up three, Vanderbilt got its first run. By this point, it was Franklin on the mound, though. The relief pitcher entered to start the inning and allowed the game to be moved to 3-1.

In the ninth, Loy entered to close things out. He allowed a one-out solo shot. This made way for Snead to enter. He struck out the first batter he faced and got a sliding catch from Ensley to finish things out.

Game two of the set is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET. It will air on ESPN2. Marcus Phillips will get the ball for the Vols as he looks to build off a strong second year with Tennessee.

The third game of the series is set for 3 p.m. ET on Sunday. It will air on ESPN2, as well. The Vols have not announced their pitcher for the third game yet.

Following the series with Vanderbilt, the Vols will host Belmont for its home finale. Tuesday's first pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on SECN+.

Then, Tennessee will round out the regular season with a Thursday through Saturday series at Arkansas.

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @ByNoahTaylor, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media.