BERKELEY – For eight innings, Max Flower watched and waited as the Cal baseball team battled visiting BYU to a scoreless draw.
 
But, after entering as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth, Flower got his chance to play the hero at the plate and the sophomore made the opportunity count as his line drive double into right-center field provided the only run of the evening and the Bears celebrated a 1-0 victory over the Cougars in the final mid-week game of the 2018 season.
 
With Tanner Dodson entering to pitch the top of the ninth, Flower entered as Cal's new center fielder just as he has throughout the season. Dodson wasted no time in getting his teammates back to the plate as he set the Cougars down in order to set the stage for some offensive heroics.
 
Jeffrey Mitchell Jr. got the inning started with a single through the left side of the infield and, after an error and fielder's choice left runners on first and second with one out, BYU went to the bullpen to bring in right-hander Jake Suddreth to face the right-handed hitting Flower.
 
That didn't faze the junior from Lafayette, Calif. in the least. He fell behind in the count 1-2 but, having seen both pitches that Suddreth had to offer, he shot an outside breaking ball the other way and it found the gap to bring Darren Baker in to score.
 
"I think it's just preparation. I know that when I'm not in the lineup, there's a good chance it'll be close at the end and Tanner will have to come in," Flower said. "I'm always prepared to go in last second because that's been my role a little bit this year. Just waiting for my opportunity if it does come late in games and staying prepared."
 
Flower's big hit came on a night in which the Bears were carried by a host of quality pitching performances. Joey Matulovich, Arman Sabouri and Erik Martinez tossed two scoreless innings apiece, Carson Olson and Andrew Buckley each threw one and Dodson pitched the ninth as Cal limited a potent BYU lineup to just six hits and one walk while combining to strike out seven.
 
"It's always a little nicer when you're at home and it's tied in the ninth because you feel like you have a chance," Cal head coach Mike Neu said. "I thought our pitching staff did a great job. We threw a lot of guys and we wanted everyone to be ready for the weekend. Everybody really stepped up. This is a really good offensive team we played and they all did a really nice job. Even when we were in a couple tough spots, they came through. Our offense wasn't at its best today but we found a way. It was big for Max to get that hit right there."
 
Cal hits the road this weekend and returns to Pac-12 play with three games at USC. Friday's series opener is set for a 6 p.m. first pitch while Saturday action will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday's series finale will begin at 1 p.m. The Bears come home to Evans Diamond next week for the final three home games of the season with Arizona paying a visit to Berkeley.