By hitting more than one home run in just four games so far in 2012, WKU hasn’t been known this year as a power hitting team.  

But on Saturday versus Troy the Toppers managed to put three balls over the fence for the first time all season, en route to a 9-4 victory over the Trojans at Nick Denes field.

The biggest inning for WKU came early on in the second, as the Toppers had runners on second and third bases with no outs, after a single from senior right fielder Ryan Hutchison and a double from junior designated hitter Adam Lavelle.

Facing a 2-0 count, junior catcher Devin Kelly hit a three-run home run to left-center field, scoring Hutchison and Lavelle.

“I just got a pitch I could handle on a hitter’s count,” Kelly said. “I didn’t try to do too much with the ball, just put a good swing on it.”

Kelly’s home run wasn’t the only one in the inning.

After a flyout by junior shortstop Steve Hodgins and a strikeout by junior second baseman Blake Crabtree, sophomore left fielder David Simmons knocked out a solo home run, the first of his career.

The big inning gave the Toppers a 5-1 lead, one that it would not relinquish for the rest of the game.

WKU junior left-hander Tim Bado earned the win on the mound, scattering seven hits over seven innings before giving up three hits for two Troy runs in the eighth.

The victory put WKU (16-23, 7-10 in Sun Belt Conference) back ahead of Troy (17-21, 6-11 in Sun Belt) in the conference standings.

“Putting up runs like that early just makes my job so much easier,” Bado said. “Now we’ve put them below us in the standings again.”

With the series even at 1-1, Troy and WKU face off Sunday at 1 pm to decide the series winner.