In this paper we analyze a single server queue with batch arrivals and semi-Markovian service times. We also include the feature that the first service of each busy period might have a different distribution than subsequent service times. Our generating function based approach allows us to determine the heavy traffic limit of the scaled queue-length distribution. It turns out that this distribution converges to an exponential distribution. Nonsurprisingly, the exceptional first service does not influence this limiting distribution. We identify a sufficient and necessary condition under which the dependence between successive service times disappears in the limit, which we illustrate in a numerical example.