NEW BRITAIN — The problem: How do you pitch to a lineup that’s hitting .341?

“I’d intentionally walk everyone,” says Gianno Merlonghi, one of the hard-hittin’ New Britain guys who are leading the nation in hitting. “The lineup we’ve had this year is something I haven’t seen in my four years here. We have guys 1 through 9 who can all hit in the 3-spot.”

Well, a walk is supposed to be as good as a hit, and vice versa, and Central Connecticut’s baseball team gets its share of both, with its .452 on-base percentage, second in the country. This Blue Devils’ lineup has snapped and crackled all season, with plenty of pop, too, with .515 slugging percentage, outscoring opponents 294-146.

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“When you get a true sense of what college baseball is, at the level we play, batting average means something,” coach Charlie Hickey says. “We watch the pro game, and it doesn’t mean as much. It’s a different game. For us to emphasize being able to put the ball in play, hit the ball to all fields, stuff that used to matter in baseball still matters at the college level.”

Leading the line-drive barrage is senior Aidan Redahan, who leads the country with a .456 average, even after going 1-for-9 the last two games, dropping his closer to the rest. A sturdy lefthanded hitter from Greenwich, Redahan has 19 multi-hit games and 46 RBI for Central (22-8).

“Quite frankly, it’s just seeing more pitches, being more selective in my approach,” Redahan says. “I’ve always known myself to be someone who, when I swing the bat, I’m going to make contract, put the ball in play. So just from year to year, it just comes down to taking better at bats, seeing better pitches and this year it’s starting to click.”

After playing for UConn and Southern Cal, Trumbull’s Chris Brown has found a happy hitting place in the middle of CCSU’s lineup. (CCSU Athletics)

Click, ping, crack, slam, pow, the Blue Devils average 9.8 runs per game, limiting strikeouts to 5.3 per game, but the number that really excites them is the 17-1 record in the NEC, 17 conference wins in a row going into this weekend’s home series against Norfolk State.

“It’s something we acknowledge as our efforts paying off,” Redahan says. “But we have to stay focused and not allow those sorts of things to distract us from what’s ahead of us, which is going for an NEC title.”

There’s a ways to go, and the most important work, notably the make-or-break conference tournament, is still ahead, but this is a prototypical Hickey-coached Central team, a lot of kids from Connecticut, or just over the state line, with something to prove, taking aim at the NCAA Tournament, where the program has ended up eight times, most recently in 2023.

“It’s just a really good group of guys who enjoy playing baseball,” says Trumbull’s Chris Brown, who played two years at UConn and one at Southern Cal before transferring to Central to join this hit parade. “It makes it a fun atmosphere to come to every day. We all enjoy being together.”

Like Redahan, Merlonghi, from Masuk-Monroe, has played all four years at Central and carries a .317 career average across 74 games, including .291 this season. The Devils have 361 hits in 30 games, including 79 doubles, 20 triples and 22 home runs, with 10 regular, or semi-regular players hitting above .300. In or out of conference, they’ve piled up the runs, often wiping out big deficits very quickly.

“We don’t really talk about that much,” says Brown, hitting .371 wit 35 RBI. “What we care about are wins and losses, (the stats) come with what we do every day. It’s nice to be able to say we’re leading the nation, but it doesn’t really mean anything.”

When you’re hitting the way Redahan has been, “it feels like the best job in the world,” he says, “just being able to come out here every day, it’s a blessing.”

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Central has four weekends of conference play remaining, including three games at second-place Wagner May 2-4. The Blue Devils started the season a little later than most, with three games at Central Arkansas, winning two. They’ve been playing up north since March 8, the cold weather obviously having little effect on their bats, the pressure always on the defense to make plays.

“Getting to the bullpens matters in college baseball,” says Hickey, in his 26th season, “and that’s been a key to our success. Aidan is a perfect example of that. You watch [Tuesday], he gets a base hit to left field, he hits a ball in the gap they made a great catch on, then hit a line drive to  third base. That sort of versatility, being able to hit the ball to all fields, put the ball in play. Errors happen at this level. He’s been in our program four years, and right from day one he’s put consistent at-bats together. ”

Into a mix of players who have been in New Britain, and played on tournament teams, Hickey pulled in Brown, who has held down third base while Redahan has played first or second.

“A lot of it is timing,” Hickey says. “We were aware of Chris and watched his career at Storrs. This past summer, there was an opportunity for him to come and play, where he had traveled everywhere, done some different things, but the reality is, it’s a lot more fun when you get to play.”

Among those who have played all or nearly all of the games, senior Bo Yaworski, from Brooklyn, Conn., a transfer from D-III Mitchell College, is hitting .373 with 36 RBI, infielder Brady Short, from Hurley, N.Y., has played every game and is hitting .317.

“And it’s been contagious,” Hickey says.

Of course, you’ve got to have some pitching, too. Southington’s Vincent Borghese, 7-1 with a 2.90 ERA and Drew Munn (5-0, 4.06), from Huntington, N.Y., are leading Central on the mound, where the team ERA in conference play is 3.22. Teams facing Central, though, really have to be concerned about the relentless lineup, and figure out, how do you pitch to the nation’s leading hitters, a whole lineup of three-hole hitters?

“Guys that come into this program, they’re hungry,” Merlonghi says. “There are a lot of guys here who want to prove themselves and when guys get the opportunities, most of the time, they show up.”