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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Senior southpaw Jared Eskew allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings for his fourth win and freshman second baseman Matt Jensen doubled to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs as No. 16/21 Cal Poly rallied to beat Cal State Bakersfield 6-2 in the opener of a four-game non-conference baseball series Friday night before 1,012 in Baggett Stadium.

Coming off a four-day layoff and Winter Quarter finals, coach Larry Lee’s Mustangs trailed 2-1 in the fourth inning before Jensen’s two-run double to right-center field gave Cal Poly the lead for good.

With its third straight win, Cal Poly improves to 12-4 on the year. Cal State Bakersfield, fielding a baseball team for the first time this season, slipped to 4-11.

Eskew (4-1) struck out two and walked one, throwing 111 pitches, before giving way to senior right-hander Eric Massingham, who retired the Roadrunners in order in the ninth.

The loss went to junior right-hander Mickey Jannis (0-3), who threw 119 pitches in seven-plus innings and allowed four runs and four hits with six walks and three strikeouts.

Despite the loss, Cal State Bakersfield outhit Cal Poly 6-5, led by left fielder Stuart Smith with a single and double. Catcher Jeremy Rodriguez added a double while first baseman Martin Medina belted a two-run home run in the fourth inning for the Roadrunners’ only runs of the game.

It was Medina’s third home run of the season.

With his single and double, Jensen was the lone Mustang to collect more than one hit. Junior catcher Wes Dorrell added a solo home run leading off the eighth inning, his third of the year.

Cal Poly, which scored an unearned run in the first inning on two errors and a balk, overcame Medina’s home run with Jensen’s two-run double in the bottom of the fourth and finally broke the game open with a three-run eighth-inning uprising.

Dorrell led off the eighth with a solo home run to right field, chasing Jannis from the game. Senior center fielder Ryan Lee’s two-out bases-loaded grounder was misplayed for an error, allowing two unearned runs to score.

Half of Cal Poly’s six runs were unearned because of three Cal State Bakersfield errors. The Mustangs entered the game with a .324 team batting average but were held to just five hits.

Second game of the series will be played Saturday afternoon at 1 o’clock in Baggett Stadium, with Cal Poly to send junior southpaw Matt Leonard (2-0, 6.00 ERA) to the mound against Cal State Bakersfield junior right-hander Erik Draxton (1-1, 6.41 ERA).

The series will shift to Hardt Field in Bakersfield for games Sunday at 1 p.m. and Monday at 2 p.m.