AUBURN | Auburn added a lot of talented arms in the offseason and that newly acquired depth will be put to the test right out of the gate.

The Tigers will open up the season with five games in six days and at least three of AU’s starters will likely be newcomers.

While the official rotation for the weekend won’t be announced until later this week, it could include LSU transfer Samuel Dutton, Florida transfer Cade Fisher, sophomore Cam Tilly, freshman Christian Chatterton and junior Dylan Watts.

Dutton, Fisher and Chatterton are all newcomers. Tilly and Watts are second-year players.

It all starts with a three-game series against Holy Cross beginning Friday. AU hosts Troy Tuesday and North Alabama Wednesday.

“I think those guys are kinda running neck-and-neck,” said AU coach Butch Thompson. “We’ve got to name five starters and that’s going to really stretch our bullpen. It will force us to use a lot of pieces to see what we’ve got.”

First pitch for Friday and Saturday night’s games against Holy Cross are scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and Sunday’s finale will be 1 p.m. All three games will be carried on SECN+.

POTENTIAL PLATOON: Transfer Bristol Carter and sophomore Cade Belyeu have secured spots in Auburn’s outfield with Carter likely in center and Belyeu in left. Right field could be a platoon with right-handers Jett Johnston and Addison Klepsch rotating in with left-hander Bub Terrell, who was a standout in Friday night’s intrasquad game.

“He hit a breaking ball, left-on-left out of the ballpark in his first at-bat and had a double,” said Thompson. “When you see a young, left-handed hitter hang in there on 0-2 and get a breaking ball off a left-handed pitcher and lose it, that’s always exciting. So we feel like he’s dialed in.”

FRESHMAN IMPRESSING: Klepsch has worked at both middle infield and outfield throughout fall and preseason practice. His hitting came on at the end of fall and has carried into preseason as Thompson and his assistants look to find a way to get him into the lineup. “When the game starts, he has great game at-bats. The two-strike approach that Gabe preaches on, it’s there.”

LINEUP LOOK: Auburn’s lineup for the opener could look something like this: 1. Bristol Carter CF, 2. Ike Irish C, 3. Lucas Steele DH, 4. Cooper McMurray 1B, 5. Eric Guevara 3B, 6. Cade Belyeu LF, 7. Deric Fabian 2B, 8. Bub Terrell RF and 9. Eric Snow SS. Thompson likes the idea of putting the switch-hitting Steele between Irish and McMurray, who are both left-handers. Freshmen Chase Fralick and Chris Rembert could also get at-bats at DH. “That switch-hitting component is huge. I think Steele can bring some power.”