Not a good idea.

Baylor, the top offensive team in the Big 12 Conference, took advantage of five KU errors and rolled to an 11-3 victory in front of 1,226 fans Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark.

The Jayhawk miscues were by far the most they’ve had in a game this season. They’ve committed three errors in several games this year, but never four and certainly not five.

It was surprising considering KU previously had played squeaky-clean defense, a big reason for its sudden success.

“That’s the worst defensive game we’ve played all year,” KU coach Ritch Price said. “They’re too good of a club offensively to give them that many extra outs.”

Five of Baylor’s 11 runs were unearned. Two of KU’s blunders came in the sixth inning, letting BU send 10 batters to the plate and score six runs.

The loss dropped Kansas to 32-17 overall and 7-10 in Big 12 play. The Bears improved to 29-17 and 10-10, and assured themselves they’ll leave Lawrence today still in sixth place in the Big 12. Kansas is seventh.

“That’s baseball,” senior Casey Spanish said. “We obviously didn’t play our best game today. It would’ve been a lot closer if we would’ve made some defensive plays and stopped their momentum.”

Baylor never trailed, scoring two runs on four solid singles in the first inning. KU pitcher Chris Smart, like he has before, put himself in jams with runners on base during his five innings of work.

This time, though, the defense didn’t come to the rescue. He dropped to 1-3, scattering nine hits and three earned runs before being relieved by freshman Don Czyz in the sixth.

Baylor pounded out 13 hits, all in the first seven innings.

“Once they got it going,” Price said, “they buried us.”

Kansas, meanwhile, managed seven hits, including an RBI single by freshman Ritchie Price in the third inning and a two-run home run by Spanish in the sixth. The poor defense, however, never gave the offense a chance to rally.

“It’s kind of the same as hitting. When you’re hitting, it’s contagious,” said Spanish, who went 3-for-3 and improved his batting average to a team-best .406. “When people are making errors, sometimes it gets contagious and people lose their concentration.”

Baylor added two more runs — one of them unearned — off Kenny Falconer in the seventh. Kansas had just one hit after Spanish’s sixth-inning homer.

The character of the team, KU coach Price said, should show today. KU and Baylor hook up in the rubber match of the three-game series at 1 p.m. at Hoglund Ballpark.

“I guarantee you we’ll play better,” Price said. “That’s the one thing we’ve done all year. Any time we play poorly, we bounce back and play well the next day.”

Baylor 11, Kansas 3

Baylor 200 016 200 — 11 13 0

Kansas 001 002 000 — 3 7 5

W–Sean Walker (6-4). L–Chris Smart (1-3).

HR–KU: Casey Spanish (7).

KU highlights: Casey Spanish 3-for-3, HR, 2 RBI; Ritchie Price 1-for-3, RBI; Matt Baty 1-for-2, R.