MUSKEGON, Mich. — The 2026 season has not been kind to the Southern Ohio Copperheads.
Through just over a month of action and 28 total games, one of Athens County’s biggest summer attractions has emerged victorious just five times. Things have been even more dire away from home, with the ‘Cheads capturing just one win in 15 attempts.
That stretch of rough road outings continued Tuesday against the Muskegon Clippers, with Southern Ohio (5-23) suffering another lopsided defeat in a seven-inning run-rule loss.
Despite a strong start offensively for the visiting Copperheads, a seven-run frame by the Clippers (14-14) resulted in a one-sided 14-4 result that went in favor of the home side.
It’s the 16th time that Southern Ohio has surrendered double digits on the scoreboard, with nine of those coming in the team’s last ten games.
Five different arms would be deployed on the mound, with Copperheads’ head coach Rocky Brunty continuing to search for consistency on the bump.
Nick Massie, Collin Hirschkorn, Karson Griggs, Kenyon McQueen and Samuel Dawson all faced at least three batters, surrendering nine hits and 12 walks combined.
While none of the quintet put together a solid outing, only six of Muskegon’s 14 runs would be charged as earned. Griggs would go the furthest for the ‘Cheads, lasting 3.1 innings, but allowed four hits, five walks and three earned runs.
Southern Ohio would end the evening on the losing side of the scoreboard, but the visitors were actually the team to strike first in the early innings.
The visitors would score all four of their runs in the first two frames, plating two runners in both the first and second innings.
Eli Mandler and Zach Reeder would each produce RBI doubles, while Brady Kaufman scored a runner thanks to an error in the first before his second-inning single went for an RBI of his own.
That trio would account for four of the team’s five base hits, with the only other knock coming from Easton Nuzum, who scored off Mandler’s RBI double.
The speedy center fielder would tie Reeder and Kaufman for the team lead with that RBI, while also leading with a pair of hits and two runs scored.
Unfortunately, that 4-0 lead would have a short shelf life, with Muskegon quickly managing to swing both momentum and the scoreline into their favor.
The hosts would score seven in the second inning, with all seven going down as unearned after a two-out error extended the inning and allowed for the scoring surge.
That defensive miscue would score two, with five more getting tacked on after several walks, a hit by pitch and a wild pitch.
That would wipe momentum from the Copperheads, with the visitors failing to form any sort of response across the next five innings. The next five innings would play out with zero hits by Southern Ohio, while the Clippers would score at least one run in four of those five frames.
The last run, an RBI single by Muskegon’s Nolan Laskey, pushed the advantage to double digits and triggered the run-rule to end the game early.
Southern Ohio will wrap up the series with Muskegon on Wednesday night before returning home this weekend for a three-game home stand against the Michigan Monarchs (9-18).