Southern Ohio was up 8-0 by the end of the first inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the first inning Thursday night, the Southern Ohio Copperheads  launched a rally on the Muskegon Clippers and never looked back.

With an 8-0 lead going into the second inning, Southern Ohio relied on a strong offense and starting pitcher Thomas Zazzaro to beat Muskegon 13-2.

Zyon Avery, who earned Dan Inman Electric Player of the Game status after hitting two home runs with 5 RBIs, said that he’s “starting to get into a rhythm.”

“I’m happy that I could help out my team and keep the rally going,” said the Ohio University first baseman. “I think I was seeing the ball well, I mean, my first home run I got a fastball over the plate that I could hit. The second home run was actually on a curveball and I was able to handle it.”

Phillip Glasser, Daniel Cruz and Jared Heard started the game off in the first inning with three consecutive RBI singles. But that wasn’t all — Zyon Avery stepped up to the plate and cleared the bases with a three-run blast to left-center.

The Copperheads didn’t slow down, batting around the order, with Ty Crittenberger hitting another RBI single. Back to back doubles from Michigan State Spartans Reese Trahey and Zach Iverson added to Southern Ohio’s tally, rounding out the score in the first inning.

“You want to jump out early, so that you can kind of set the tone and put pressure on the other team,” said head coach Austin Dunfee. “You never dream you’re gonna put up eight in the first inning. Those guys were having a good time and they just played baseball.”

Southern Ohio jumped ahead even more in the sixth inning when Reese Trahey hit a triple down the right field line. Phillip Glasser kept it going with an RBI single.

Daniel Cruz contributed with a sacrifice fly that allowed Ben Rushing to tag up and score Southern Ohio’s tenth run.

Still, the Copperheads were not finished, even after another RBI single from Jared Heard. Right after, Zyon Avery hit his second home run of the day, knocking in two more runs to bring the score to 13-1.

In Zazzaro’s eight innings as starting pitcher, he had five strikeouts and only allowed two runs to score for Muskegon. All in all, The Clippers ended the game with ten hits, and the Copperheads ended with fifteen.

This win brings Southern Ohio’s record to 6-8, and Muskegon’s to 5-9.

The Copperheads’ next home games will take place Friday, June 21, at 5:35 p.m., Saturday, June 22, at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday, June 23, at 5:35 p.m.