Hey, hey, who doesn’t love May? Kansas University’s baseball team sure does.

Left for dead in the Big 12 Conference in late April, the Jayhawks clinched a rare berth in the league tournament by taking two games from Oklahoma State on Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark.

Kodiak Quick pitched a one-hitter for six innings, and KU scored in every frame for a two-touchdown 17-3 triumph in the completion of the game that was suspended Friday night when the lights went out.

Then, catcher Sean Richardson doubled, homered and drove in three runs as the Jayhawks captured the evening contest, 7-5.

“This is one of the best days we’ve had since I’ve been here,” KU coach Ritch Price said.

“I’m really proud of our players. We’ve grown by leaps and bounds.”

On April 29, the Jayhawks were blanked by Kansas State, 7-0. Their conference record dipped to 4-11. They appeared headed for sole possession of the league basement.

“Three weeks ago,” said Mike Zagurski, the senior pitcher who won Saturday’s second game, “we were pretty much dead. Now, we’re right back in it.”

Since that Kansas State whitewash, the Jayhawks have won seven of 10 conference games and can finish no worse than seventh in the conference standings. If they knock off Oklahoma State again in today’s regular-season finale, they’ll finish sixth.

Oklahoma State base-runner Cody Merrell collides with Kansas University catcher Sean Richardson, right. Merrell was out on the play, which caused both benches to empty during KU's 7-5 victory Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark. The victory assured KU a spot in the Big 12 Conference tournament.

Only eight of the league’s 10 teams that have baseball programs will qualify for next week’s conference tourney in Oklahoma City.

“It feels great,” Zagurski said. “We didn’t want to have to have some other teams lose for us to get in. We wanted to take care of it ourselves.”

Take care of it, they did. Kansas rocked seven Oklahoma State hurlers of 32 hits in the two game — 20 in the opener and 12 in the finale.

Richardson was the ringleader. The senior catcher drove in four runs in the afternoon contest with three doubles. Then he stroked a two-run double in the first inning of the nightcap, and slammed a solo homer into the trees behind the left-field fence in the third.

Richardson’s homer occurred minutes after a benches-emptying incident that closed the top of the third. OSU runner Cody Merrell had tried to score from second on a single to left by Steve Ptak, but A.J. Van Slyke’s throw beat Merrell to the plate by five yards.

A dead duck, Merrell rammed into Richardson in a futile attempt to jar the ball loose, and that’s an NCAA no-no.

“He made an aggressive play,” Richardson said after the game. “I don’t fault him for being aggressive, but you can’t do that in college.”

Hear Ritch: KU vs. OSU postgame audio

At the time, however, Richardson was steamed, and both benches emptied.

“I was a little fired up, but I regained my composure,” the KU backstop said, “and coach Price yanked me back to the dugout.”

Merrell was ejected, and so was KU’s Michael Fitch, a reserve pitcher who was one of the many players who erupted from both dugouts.

Basically overlooked by the Jayhawks’ robust hitting and solid pitching was the fact KU wasn’t charged with a single error all day. KU’s only miscue in the two games was by starting pitcher Sean Land on Friday night.

The Kansas University dugout erupts after a home run by catcher Sean Richardson. The Jayhawk baseball team beat Oklahoma State twice Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark, clinching a berth in the Big 12 Conference tournament.

When they were mired in the league cellar, the Jayhawks also were last in league fielding statistics, mainly because of a slew of gaffes by infielders. Now, the infield, which has two freshmen in third baseman Erik Morrison and second baseman Ryne Price (a former catcher at Free State High), has solidified.

“Early on, we were not very good,” Zagurski said, “but now I’ll take that infield over anybody in the country.”

Notes: KU improved to 36-25 overall and 11-14 in league play while OSU dipped to 32-23 and 11-15. … Zagurski (8-4) struggled early, but retired the last nine Cowboys he faced to win his fourth straight league game. … Zagurski also fanned six to boost his season whiff total to 110. The school record is 111. … KU hadn’t taken a series from OSU since 1993 … On the day, Richardson was 5-for-10 with seven RBIs, Schweitzer was 4-for-6 with four RBIs and Van Slyke 5-for-9 with an RBI. …KU’s only other appearance in the Big 12 Tournament was in 2003.