KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Now they can’t razz John Allman anymore.

Allman is the leading hitter on Kansas University’s baseball team, but, until Wednesday, the red-shirt freshman had not homered.

“Some of the guys have been calling me a singles guy,” Allman said. “And some have been saying I just had warning-track power.”

Allman ended the jibes with a second-inning solo home run as the Jayhawks smoked Sacramento State, 12-5, in the Best of the Midwest Tournament at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

Allman’s high drive landed behind the low right-center-field fence at the home of the Kansas City T-Bones. The blow might not have left KU’s Hoglund Ballpark, but it wasn’t a cheapie.

“The wind helped it, but I hit it well,” said Allman, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound outfielder who has spent most of this season as the designated hitter.

Until Wednesday, a dozen different Jayhawks had struck home runs, and Allman, who hails from St. Louis, became No. 13.

“It’s nice to have that monkey off my back,” Allman said with a smile.

On the other side of the spectrum, left fielder A.J. Van Slyke took over the team lead in home runs by striking a two-run shot in the third inning. Van Slyke’s ninth homer — he had shared the team lead with Gus Milner — was a rocket that cleared the low fence near the 328-foot sign in right.

Kansas University's John Allman, left, thanks Levi Denney, 10, for retrieving the ball from Allman's first home run in a KU uniform. Allman autographed a baseball roster for Denney, who skipped school on Wednesday to watch the game with his father at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas City, Kan.

“I don’t think it would have been out in Hoglund because our right-field corner is deeper,” Van Slyke said.

Still, Van Slyke will take it because the circuit shot came off left-handed Sacramento State starter Kyle Christensen and was the second homer the left-handed-hitting Van Slyke has had against a southpaw this season.

“It was a curve ball, and a left-hander’s curveball is tough to hit,” Van Slyke said. “It’s hard to hit left-handed pitching.”

Lately, however, the Jayhawks have been hitting all kinds of pitching. Over the last five games, KU is averaging an impressive 11.0 runs per outing. Kansas scored 24 runs in the two-day K.C. tournament, 22 runs last weekend in two games against Texas Tech and nine against Wichita State a week ago.

“I’m a big believer in the more you play the better you swing the bat,” KU coach Ritch Price said. “I feel like we’re really swinging the bat well and that we’re handling plus-velocity.”

Perhaps more encouraging than the lusty hitting, however, was the steady performance turned in by KU starting pitcher Sean Land. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound left-hander went five innings and gave one earned run. He fanned six and walked only one.

“He’s had a very disappointing season,” Price said of the sophomore from Greenwood, Mo. “He has tremendous talent, and I think he’d lost his confidence.”

No doubt Land regained at least some of it Wednesday.

“It was nice to come out and pitch and feel good,” said Land, who evened his record at 4-4 and lowered his earned-run average from 5.29 to 4.97. “I slowed everything down today and tried to have more control.”

Shortstop Ritchie Price was charged with his 19th and 20th errors of the season, but offset the gaffes with three hits — including a double — scoring four runs and driving in two.

Allman, incidentally, had a single to go with his first homer and inflated his team-leading BA from .354 to .365. Matt Baty, Gus Milner and Erik Morrison also contributed two hits apiece to KU’s 15-hit attack against six Hornets hurlers.

Kansas, 27-20 overall, is still in last place in the Big 12 Conference with a 4-10 record and will meet Kansas State (6-12) in a crucial three-game series this weekend — Friday in Manhattan and Saturday and Sunday in Lawrence.

“It’s a pivotal point in our season,” Allman said.

Echoed coach Price: “It’s a huge weekend, no doubt about it.”