It’s never been done — not during the Dave Bingham glory years of the early 1990s, not even at any time during Floyd Temple’s 28 successful years as Kansas University baseball coach.

But Tuesday, KU’s 8-3 victory over the University of Saint Mary cemented a Jayhawk baseball first — the first time KU ever has won 30 games in a season for three straight years.

At 30-21, this year’s Jayhawks join the 2003 (35-28) and 2004 (31-31-1) squads in making history. It happened in coach Ritch Price’s first three years at KU.

“I think the progress we’ve made in our program is really the commitment our school has made toward baseball,” Price said. “You can see what’s happening now with our donors and boosters. They’re helping us improve the facilities, which helps with recruiting and helps grow the program. If I didn’t have that kind of support, we wouldn’t have made the progress we’ve made so far.”

Temple (1978-1979) and Bingham (1993-1994) each had consecutive 30-win seasons. Bingham’s run actually was two 40-win seasons, including a College World Series appearance in ’93.

But no one could sustain the winning ways for more than two straight years — until now.

“Now that we’ve won back-to back-to-back 30-win seasons, our next goal, obviously, is to make (NCAA) regionals,” Price said, “which is what I came here for.”

It’d take a Herculean finish to get there this year, but it’s still on the horizon. Call Tuesday’s game a final tuneup before the critical stretch run of the regular season, which includes a single game today against Wichita State followed by three-game Big 12 Conference series with Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma State.

Saint Mary, an NAIA school in Leavenworth, gave KU some live action against a scrappy team with nothing to lose.

Kansas University's Mike Dudley smiles at teammates before he bats against the University of Saint Mary. The Jayhawks beat the Spires, 8-3, Tuesday at Hoglund Ballpark.

If the Jayhawks thought it was a night off, they were reminded differently in the first inning when Spires cleanup hitter Marc Walton crushed a Clint Schambach pitch 400-plus feet over the center-field wall, putting Saint Mary up, 2-0.

The Jayhawks quickly erased the deficit in the bottom of the first, scoring five runs — the last three driven in on home runs by Jared Schweitzer and Mike Dudley. Schweitzer’s shot extended his hitting streak to 19 games, two short of Ryan Baty’s school record.

From then on, KU was on cruise control. Seven different Jayhawks logged at least an inning on the mound, and several reserve players took hacks at the plate. KU added a single run in the third and two in the eighth.

“We’re trying to go out there and get (at-bats),” Dudley said. “Let everybody get a little playing time, especially those who don’t get to play a lot. That way, once we get into conference play, we can click on all cylinders.”

The Jayhawks used Tuesday’s game as a chance to “play against the ball” and work on cleaning up defensive blunders. KU had two harmless errors on bobbled ground balls in right field by freshman Brock Simpson, but otherwise looked sharp defensively.

6Sports video: KU victory sets milestone

It came not a moment too soon. Starting with today’s 7 p.m. road game at Wichita State, KU’s 10 remaining games all loom large — with state bragging rights and postseason hopes hanging in the balance.

“It’s kind of a logjam in the Big 12 standings right now,” Schweitzer said. “Every win is going to be huge.”