BERKELEY – Momentum gained from a late rally in the first game of the day eventually led the Cal baseball team to its first win of the season as the Golden Bears dropped their season opener by a count of 6-4 but rebounded to beat visiting Cal Poly 4-3 in the nightcap on opening day at Evans Diamond.

Cal and Cal Poly will return on Sunday morning at 10:05 a.m. to settle the series with the rubber game of their three-game set. The start time is a change from the previous planned first pitch of 1:05 p.m. as rain is forecast for Sunday afternoon.

Cal Poly 6, Cal 4

After rain scrapped plans to open the season on Friday night, it was Cal Poly that jumped out to an early advantage Saturday as the visitors scored three runs in the third, two in the fourth and another in the fifth to put Cal in a hole it couldn't quite climb out of.

Though the Mustangs took the early lead, a young group of Golden Bears persevered, especially at the plate. An RBI double by sophomore Lorenzo Hampton, Jr. and an RBI single by freshman Anthony Walters narrowed the gap to 6-3 in the sixth and, one inning later, Tanner Dodson contributed with an RBI single of his own to make it 6-4.

That was as close as Cal could get in the run column but the Bears' bats were far from dormant as a whole. Denis Karas led a 17-hit attack by going 4 for 5 in his season debut while Jonah Davis added three hits and Hampton, Walters and freshman Andrew Vaughn each had two. Every Cal starting position player had a hit in the effort.

On the mound, Dodson drew the start and worked into the fourth in his 2017 debut, allowing five runs on seven hits. He also walked two and struck out four. Cal's bullpen showed its mettle in the later innings as sophomore Aaron Shortridge tossed three innings of scoreless relief, Vaughn added an inning and two thirds without allowing a run and Rogelio Reyes recorded an out on just one pitch.

Cal 4, Cal Poly 3

The Bears made sure opening day wouldn't go without celebration as a home run by Karas tied the score in the fifth, an unearned run put Cal ahead in the sixth and the duo of Joey Matulovich and Erik Martinez shut the door to preserve the victory.

More a back and forth affair than the first game of the day, Cal and Cal Poly traded blows in the early innings. The Bears scored first on an RBI ground ball from Vaughn and the Mustangs countered with a home run by Nick Meyer. Walters plated another run with an RBI double in the fourth but Kevin Morgan responded with a two-run home run to put Cal Poly up 3-2 in the fifth.

The Bears took command from there. Karas squared up an 0-2 offering from Cal Poly starter Kyle Smith and launched it over the left field fence, tying the score in the bottom of the fifth. One inning later, an error allowed Ripken Reyes to reach safely with the bases already loaded and Tyrus Greene crossed home to put Cal in front.

The story from there was Cal's pitching and a pair of returners who should play a big role as 2017 gets going in Berkeley. First though, freshman Jared Horn started and worked five solid innings in his collegiate debut, allowing three runs on four hits while walking three and striking out four.

Matulovich came on in the sixth and proceeded to stymie the Mustangs for the next three innings. The sophomore from Danville, Calif. allowed just one base runner via a walk, struck out one and needed just 46 pitches to get the Bears to the ninth inning with the lead. He would eventually pick up his first win of the year.

That left the final three outs to Martinez and the junior right-hander made sure to finish in style. After back to back singles put the tying and go-ahead runs on base to open the inning, Martinez buckled down, striking out the next three Cal Poly hitters in succession to finish off the contest.

"I think we played better than the results that were shown from both games," Cal head coach David Esquer said. "They are a very experienced team.  I thought they played old early and we played young early. Give them credit for not taking a 6-1 loss and going home with it, I thought we battled back, got to 6-4, got thrown out at the plate. I thought we did a great job of giving them a battle and did a great job in the second game."

Karas finished the day as Cal's offensive star as the junior from nearby Moraga, Calif. went 5 for 9 with a pair of runs scored. Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr., Davis and Walters all finished the day with three hits and Cal's bullpen combined to allow just one run in almost 10 innings of work.