Kansas junior Michael Suiter, right, taps helmets with teammate Justin Protacio over home plate after Suiter's two-run home run brought them both around the bases for scores during Kansas' game against West Virginia, Friday evening at Hoglund Ballpark. The Jayhawks defeated the Mountaineers, 5-3. The two teams will continue the series tomorrow, with the first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.

Shortly after Kansas University baseball swept its third consecutive Big 12 series on Sunday, catcher Ka’iana Eldredge shared the philosophy behind the Jayhawks’ recent run toward the postseason: “Just have fun and let the wins take care of themselves.”

The wins came. And so did the rankings.

Kansas returned to a national Top 25 poll on Monday, coming in at No. 22 in Baseball America’s weekly ranks.

Earlier this season, the Jayhawks (33-21 overall, 15-9 Big 12) earned a weeklong stay at No. 18 in Collegiate Baseball’s poll following a 14-5 start and a series victory at Texas. Before that, Kansas had not been ranked in a major Top 25 poll since March 2010 (No. 19, Collegiate Baseball).

KU’s 12th-year head coach, Ritch Price, said after Sunday’s sweep of West Virginia — which followed sweeps at Baylor and against Texas Tech — that this year’s team was carving out a special place in KU history.

“I don’t know that I have ever been more proud of a team,” said Price, who has taken Kansas to a Big 12 tournament championship and a pair of NCAA Tournament berths. “They have faced huge adversity and were put behind the eight ball and found a way to compete, grind and succeed. It has been a pleasure to watch these guys play, and the energy and enthusiasm in our dugout the last three weeks has been really special.”

Currently in third place in the Big 12 standings, the Jayhawks have two games remaining in the regular season (Saturday and Sunday at Michigan) before heading to Oklahoma City for the Big 12 tournament. KU has won 10 of its last 11 games, and the nine consecutive Big 12 victories represent a program best.

Despite sitting in a favorable position to earn their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2009, the Jayhawks are far from satisfied.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Eldredge said. “The postseason’s just a whole new season, a brand-new start. We’re looking forward to hopefully getting into the NCAA Tournament, and we’ll go from there.”

Added Price: “We need to keep playing well. That is going to be the message to our guys, ‘Don’t be satisfied as we head into the bye week before the tournament. Let’s keep grinding and competing, and getting better. We are playing our best baseball of the season right now; let’s not go backward, let’s keep moving forward.'”