Pitching in the Catholic League is no walk in the park for anybody on the mound, but former Jesuit phenom Jordan Rittiner made it look easier than most. The lefty amassed a 27-7 record in three seasons with the Blue Jays en route to two state championship game berths.

Rittiner, now a freshman pitcher at LSU, said he sees that kind of competition every time an opposing hitter enters the batter’s box.

Pitching in the Catholic League is no walk in the park for anybody on the mound, but former Jesuit phenom Jordan Rittiner made it look easier than most. The lefty amassed a 27-7 record in three seasons with the Blue Jays en route to two state championship game berths.

Rittiner saw elite talent when he battled the third and fourth batters in the lineup, but he still managed to garner a staunch 1.80 ERA his senior season.

Rittiner, now a freshman pitcher at LSU, said he sees that kind of competition every time an opposing hitter enters the batter’s box.

“Every high school’s three hole hitter is the whole lineup in college,” Rittiner said. “You can’t really take a pitch off. There’s no weak spot in any lineup. Everybody on the team can put it over the fence.”

The Metairie native doesn’t have the fastball of LSU junior ace Anthony Ranaudo, but Rittiner makes the most of his lack of velocity. While at Jesuit, Rittiner learned an arsenal of pitches he has used at the next level. Now he doesn’t have to rely solely on speed to strikeout batters.

“Not throwing hard in high school actually helped me out a bunch,” Rittiner said. “People who were throwing harder in high school never really developed a third pitch. It allowed me to develop two or three more pitches, and that helped me out tremendously.”

Rittiner’s weapon of choice since wearing purple and gold has been his off-speed pitch.

“I would have to say my changeup,” Rittiner said. “I have a lot of movement on it. I can locate it really well.”

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound pitcher has 16 game appearances with 37 innings under his belt this season. He has earned a 2.68 ERA with a 3-1 record.

“I’ve met my expectations on how I’ve thrown so far,” Rittiner said.

Rittiner started three games — William & Mary, Brown and Kansas — taking W’s from the Tribe and the Bears.

“Those starts were good for him,” said LSU coach Paul Mainieri. “It allowed him to pitch a lot of innings early in the year.”

The former Blue Jay’s toughest opposition came when he started against the Jayhawks on March 14. Rittiner earned his one and only loss against Kansas, giving up five earned runs and one walk in five innings of work.

“Kansas played unbelievable against us,” Rittiner said. “We weren’t expecting them to play as well as they did. They definitely played up to the competition.”

Since then, Rittiner has transitioned to a middle reliever, where he has thrived. Rittiner has come out of the bullpen 13 times and has allowed one or zero runs 11 of those times.

“His greatest value is when I bring him in the later innings of the game, knowing he can throw strikes,” Mainieri said. “One thing I know about Jordan Rittiner is that when I need someone to get in there and throw strikes, that’s my man.”

Rittiner has struck out 22 batters while only walking nine. He took his third win in relief work against Georgia on April 4.

“He can come and get a lefty out, and he can pitch an extended amount of time,” Rittiner said. “There’s a whole myriad of situations that I’d feel confident using Jordan.”

Rittiner pitched two innings against Tulane on Wednesday night, shutting out the Green Wave in his time on the mound.

“Jordan’s been a big part of our team,” Ranaudo said. “It’s awesome to see a freshman come in like that and just perform the way he has. He comes out there and just does what he has to do. He can be a starter; he can relieve — that’s really encouraging for our pitching staff.”

Rittiner said he has enjoyed his newfound role, which is vastly different from his role as ace at Jesuit.

“Starting is what I’ve always done, but I like coming in late in the game,” Rittiner said. “You still have to go out there and perform, whether you’re starting or in relief.”

Mainieri said he plans to keep the lefty as a reliever unless another situation arises. The LSU coach said Rittiner’s time in the Catholic League has been valuable to the Tigers.

“When we was in high school, he was a guy that his team really counted heavily on,” Mainieri said. “Those guys that had their team on their shoulders in high school are used to the spotlight. They are used to the pressure, and I think that translates when they get to college. It makes the transition a heck of a lot easier for them.”

Rittiner said it’s nice to relive old memories with fellow Catholic League stars Matty Ott (Holy Cross), Paul Bertuccini (Rummel), Matt Gaudet (Rummel), Matt Fury (Rummel) and Mason Katz (Jesuit).

“We’ll go back to old memories,” Rittiner said. “I remember I started a game against Matty. It was a pitcher’s duel the whole game. But right now we are just focusing on LSU.”