Tennessee baseball got off to a rocky start in the series opener with Georgia.

The Vols struggled on the mound and at the plate while losing 16-2 on Friday afternoon.

The Bulldogs (22-4, 4-3 SEC) now have a 1-0 series lead on Tennessee (22-5, 3-4) after the opening win.

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Georgia came into the game as the nation's leader in home runs and used the long ball to create separation. The Vols allowed four blasts which accounted for nine of the Bulldogs' runs.

AJ Causey got the ball to start the game for Tennessee but had his worst outing in his Vols' career. He went 2.2 innings while allowing seven hits, eight runs (seven earned), two walks and striking out three.

Chris Stamos, Derek Schaefer and Matthew Dallas also pitched and combined to give up the other eight runs in 4.1 innings of work for Tennessee.

At the plate, the Vols only recorded ten hits that pushed across two runs. Dean Curley and Reese Chapman were the only ones to have two-hit games.

This is believed to be the first time Tennessee has been on the wrong end of a run-rule.

Tennessee

1. Robin Villeneuve (R) - DH

2. Blake Burke (L) - 1B

3. Christian Moore (R) - 2B

4. Kavares Tears (L) - CF

5. Dylan Dreiling (L) - LF

6. Dean Curley (R) - 3B

7. Reese Chapman (L) - RF

8. Cannon Peebles (S) - C

9. Ariel Antigua (R) - SS

RHP - AJ Causey

Georgia

1. Corey Collins (L) - 1B

2. Charlie Condon (R) - CF

3. Slate Alford (R) - 3B

4. Dylan Goldstein (L) - DH

5. Henry Hunter (L) - RF

6. Fernando Gonzalez (R) - C

7. Clayton Chadwick (L) - LF

8. Kolby Branch (R) - SS

9. Trey King (L) - 2B

LHP - Charlie Goldstein

After the teams both went down in order in the first inning, Georgia exploded in the second. With the bases loaded, Kolby Branch smacked a double to clear the bases. Then, with two more on base, Corey Collins homered to push home another trio. This gave the Bulldogs a quick 6-0 lead after they batted around the order in the frame.

Tennessee got its first single with two outs in the bottom of the inning off a Curley hit. Chapman followed it up with a single of his own right after. However, Georgia starter Charlie Goldstein picked up his first strikeout to end the inning and strand the runners.

The Bulldogs instantly added more runs. They used a lead-off single and Fernando Gonzalez home run to tack on another pair of runs.

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Causey was pulled with two down and a runner at third for Stamos who finished the inning while walking a pair to load the bases but allowing no further damage. Georgia batted around for a second-straight inning in the third.

Tennessee got two runs back in the third. Christian Moore grounded into a double-play to score one before Kavares Tears pushed across another with a double.

In the fifth, Schaefer entered with one out. He couldn't get out of the inning unscathed, though, as a double scored a pair with one credited to him, and one to Stamos. Then, a second double pushed across Georgia's 11th run of the game.

The sixth inning featured a solo blast allowed by Schaefer to push the deficit to 10. Dallas also gave up a three-run shot to make it a 15-2 game. Dallas allowed another run in the seventh to get the total to 16.

1) Tears hits an RBI double

2) Causey goes 1-2-3 in the first

Next, Tennessee will look to even the series on Saturday. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. ET and will air on SEC Network+.

The Vols will likely have Drew Beam starting on the mound for the match.

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