The Jayhawks simply have sizzled inside the friendly confines of Hoglund Ballpark in 2004, posting a 14-1 record on their home turf. The latest victory came Sunday afternoon in a 15-4 thrashing of Western Illinois.

Kansas pounded five homers Sunday, including two by junior Andy Scholl, en route to the nonconference victory.

“I don’t know if it’s playing here at the Hog, or what it is,” Scholl said, “but we like swinging the bats here, and we’re looking forward to playing some Big 12 teams here and trying to get after them.”

The Jayhawks (21-9-1) will get their chance to play Big 12 Conference opponents at home soon enough. They open league play next weekend at Nebraska. Oklahoma comes to town in two weeks.

Still, KU had to take care of business against the Leathernecks before it could look ahead to any Big 12 foes, and it put WIU away early. Kansas scored nine runs in the first three innings and left little doubt it would close out its homestand with a victory.

Catcher Sean Richardson started the offense in the first inning when he singled and scored on first baseman Ryan Baty’s double. Right fielder Matt Tribble followed with a double to right that scored Baty. In the second inning, Scholl blasted his first homer, a two-run shot, and J.C. Sibley scored on Richardson’s sacrifice fly.

The Leathernecks (9-15) picked up a run in the top of the third, but KU scored four more runs in the bottom of the inning. Junior third baseman Travis Metcalf crushed a two-run homer to center field — his 11th of the year — and Sibley ripped another two-run homer. After three innings, KU led 9-1 and was well on its way to the win.

Kansas pitchers Mike Zagurski, Chris Smart, Ken Livesey and Michael Saddler were steady enough to keep the Leathernecks at bay. Lawrence High product Derek Bailey and sophomore A.J. Van Slyke hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth — each player’s first career homer — that helped cushion the lead.

“You sit on the bench and you see (other guys) can do it,” Bailey said, “and you think, ‘I’m gonna get my chance.'”

Kansas logged 20 hits in 40 at-bats Sunday. Tribble had four hits, and Scholl improved his hitting streak to 12 games.

Five of KU’s hits were home runs. The Jayhawks have hit 37 homers this season, and 29 of them have come at home.

“We really felt that when the season started that this is the best offensive club that I’ve coached in my 10 years at the Division One level,” KU coach Ritch Price said. “We’re solid one through nine, and now we’re getting some solid production from guys off the bench that were struggling earlier in the season.

“I think I made the comment at the beginning of the season that this might be the best offensive team in Kansas history, and we have a chance to do that if we can keep it going.”