AUBURN | There will be plenty of competition for starting positions when full-squad preseason practice gets underway Friday.

But Hayden Murphy is about as close as he can be to locking down a spot at the backend of Auburn’s bullpen.

After a strong finish to last season and an even stronger offseason, the junior right-hander is expected to be the Tigers’ closer.

“Bullpen-wise, Hayden Murphy was the standout,” said pitching coach Everett Teaford. “He's kind of unique because he does a lot of things that we would maybe look as a starter. But I think all of us in that coach's office go, ‘Who do we want finishing this game?’ And Hayden's kind of that guy right now for us.

“He's really just attacked batters and had a mentality … He really finished strong and obviously took that into the Cape and has had a hell of a fall.”

As a sophomore, Murphy was 1-0 with 4.32 ERA in 14 appearances. He struck out 17 in 16.2 innings, earning his first-career save in his final appearance against Alabama.

Playing in a Cape Cod League over the summer, he was 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA and three saves in nine appearances for the Chatham Anglers. He had 28 strikeouts in 18.2 innings.

Murphy has added a cutter to his repertoire, which has drawn comparisons to Blake Burkhalter, who became an All-American in 2022 with 16 saves as Auburn reached the College World Series.

“(Murphy) started coming on late last year where he started believing in the fastball. He's picked up the cutter,” said AU coach Butch Thompson. “Hayden is really locked in. He's pursuing it. He can taste it now. I had him and Blake Burkhalter spending some time on the phone multiple times talking about that cutter. Like him and Huddy figured out that cutter that kind of led us to Omaha basically in ‘22. Seeing something from the past kind of connect to him and see those guys hook up.

“Blake reinvests in us, and Hayden being hungry enough to go search it. It's the first time in a career he's taking those steps. It's good to see somebody starting to grow, feel it, and start reaching out and figuring out those strategies. He filled it up and probably did our best job of that.”

Auburn opens the season Feb. 14-16 against Holy Cross at Plainsman Park.