ATHENS --- Powered by a pair of home runs from Justin Bryant and Hunter Morris, Auburn posted a 20-3 win over Georgia Friday at Foley Field in the Southeastern Conference opener for both clubs.

Bryant went 4-for-6 and drove in a career-high eight runs while Morris was 4-for-6 with five RBI to pace the Tigers 22-hit attack. Auburn improved to 12-5 overall while Georgia slipped to 8-10.

With two outs in the first, sophomore right fielder Peter Verdin gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead with his team-leading sixth home run of the season. It was the first one allowed by Auburn left-hander Cory Luckie this year. Auburn answered with three runs on five hits in the top of the second including a go-ahead two-run single by Dan Gamache and an RBI-single by Ryan Jenkins for a 3-1 edge. With two outs in the bottom of the second, Georgia got another solo home run, this one from sophomore Colby May, his third, to cut the deficit to 3-2. Auburn answered again in the third frame, chasing Bulldog sophomore starter Michael Palazzone as they built the lead back to 5-2. Palazzone surrendered five runs on six hits in 2.1 innings before giving way to sophomore left-hander Chase Hawkins. Auburn made it 6-2 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Casey McElroy.

In the sixth, Morris smashed his fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot while Bryant added a three-run double that made it 11-2. It ended Hawkins outing. He allowed six runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts over 3.1 innings. Morris added a three-run blast off freshman Malcolm Clapsaddle in the seventh for a 14-2 Tiger advantage. Bryant launched a two-run home in the seventh for a 16-2 lead. The Tigers tacked on four more runs in the ninth including another two-run blast from Bryant that made it 20-2.

Luckie (1-0) got the victory, tossing seven innings and allowing just a pair of runs on five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Palazzone got the loss to fall to 3-2.

"The team is only as good as your starting pitching, and it wasn't good tonight," said Georgia coach David Perno. "However, we didn't sign up for just one SEC game, we've got 30 to play, and we're not going to get judged on just one game. Saturday's game is very important to see how we respond. It wasn't just the pitching, we made some mistakes in the field, we've to get some confidence."

The series continues Saturday with first pitch slated for 3 p.m. Also, please note that Sunday's game with Auburn has been changed to 1 p.m.