Ortiz signs with the Athletics

Catcher Ryan Ortiz signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics on Monday night, following through with his plan to forego his final year of college eligibility, the Beavers said Tuesday.

Ortiz, selected in the sixth round of the MLB draft with the 183rd pick overall two weeks ago, was on his way Tuesday to the Athletics' spring training facility in Phoenix for a physical.

He is expected to report later in the week to the Class-A Northwest League's Vancouver Canadians, who were set to open a five game series Tuesday against the Tri-City Dust Devils in Pasco, Wash.

A two-time Pac-10 Conference first team selection, Ortiz became the second Oregon State underclassman from this year's team to turn pro, following junior shortstop Joey Wong, who signed last week with the Colorado Rockies.

Joey made his pro debut Monday for Tri-City, going 2 for 4 and scoring the go-ahead run in the ninth inning of the Dust Devils' 7-5 NWL victory over the Boise Hawks in Boise.

As debuts go, Joey's first game got off to an inauspicious start as he got called out on strikes in his first at-bat against right-hander reliever Su-Min Jung from South Korea in the second inning, and then got charged with a error on the first ground ball hit to him in the bottom half of the inning.

Joey's first hit came in the seventh inning when he beat out a bunt single against right-hander Miguel Sierra, helping spark a three-run rally that tied the score at 5-5.

In the ninth, Wong led off with a single to center against right-handed reliever Andrew Quezada, reached second on a balk, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Kent Matthes' two-out double to left field than made the score 6-5.

With the win, the Dust Devils completed a three-game sweep of the Hawks, who surrendered 33 runs on 39 hits and committed 12 errors in the series.