Oregon State’s baseball season is just about to begin, and catcher Ryan Ortiz is popping up on a few preseason all-star lists. He’ll get a chance to show his stuff for the first time on Friday, when the Beavers, aiming to get back to national prominence play at Tennessee. The game is at 1 p.m. PST at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville.
The junior backstop was one of 50 players named to USA Baseball’s Golden Spikes Award Watch List on Tuesday. The Pac-10 and Southeastern Conference led the way with eight selections each.
A day earlier, Ortiz was chosen to third-team preseason All-American by Baseball America.
Ortiz, a native of San Diego, batted .351 with five home runs and 55 RBIs as a sophomore and made the all-Pac-10 first team. He earlier was named preseason all-Pac-10.
The Golden Spikes list is a “rolling” ledger, meaning players can play their way onto it. Thirty semifinalists will be named on May 26. The list will be cut to five finalists on June 2. The winner will be announced from St. Louis on July 15.
Ortiz and the Beavers, who missed the postseason last year after winning the previous two national titles, are in or near the top 25 in each of the major polls. Oregon State is ranked 25th by Baseball America and 24th by Rivals.com. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) has OSU at No. 31, while Collegiate Baseball, the first poll to come out this season, puts the Beavers at No. 38 to open the season.
The Sporting News, which does not have a weekly poll, placed Oregon State at No. 15 in its annual baseball yearbook.
