The first six Bulldogs to step to the plate scored against Jacksonville State Wednesday, setting the pace for a 19-1 Diamond Dog route.

The 18-run victory, complete with 20 hits and six Bulldog home runs, is the largest for Georgia since a 2004 game against Liberty.

“We needed it,” coach Dave Perno said. “We’ve been seeing a lot of good pitching and a lot of bullpens that have matched us up well . we saw some mistakes, and a lot of pitches left over the heart, and we did a good job.”

In his Georgia debut, freshman starter Justin Grimm worked in and out of trouble in the top of the first, but his offense picked him up in the bottom half of the inning.

Senior third baseman Ryan Peisel led off with a home run, and junior shortstop Gordon Beckham followed suit with a two-run homer two batters later, pacing a six-run Bulldog first.

Beckham added another two-run shot in the fourth for his second consecutive two-homer game, and first baseman Rich Poythress followed with a solo shot of his own. That made them the first Bulldogs to go back-to-back since 2006 – Beckham also was involved that time. Beckham, who was robbed of a third homer in the fifth, had six RBI in the game and is now hitting .531 on the season.

“I really think that as an offense together we really have the potential to just put up massive numbers as a group,” Peisel said.

“We’ve got to stay within our system and once everybody works together it’s limitless for us.” Peisel reached and scored every time he came to the plate, going two for two with two walks, an RBI and four runs scored before being pulled in the sixth.

Transfer Michael Demperio was expected to hit leadoff all year with Peisel in the two-hole, but Peisel moved to the top spot after the season-opening Arizona series.

Demperio, a sophomore who started school at Texas before transferring to Georgia, was three-for-six and hit his first career home run Wednesday in the form of a fifth-inning grand slam.

“I knew that we needed to get some momentum going, going into this weekend especially,” Demperio said. “We really just needed to get the bats hot and get everybody in a groove, and I think tonight was a really great night for that.”

Grimm, a 13th-round pick by the Red Sox last June, went two innings Wednesday, charting three strikeouts and allowing three walks, a hit and a run. Five Georgia pitchers combined to allow only two hits from Jacksonville State. The Diamond Dogs (3-4) begin a three game home series against Memphis on Friday.