OXFORD | Riley Maddox gets his first in-game test of his changes and improvements on Saturday in Arlington.

The Ole Miss senior will start at 7 p.m. at Globe Life Field against Texas, a nonconference matchup between the SEC members. The Rebels start on Friday versus Arizona at 3 p.m. and close the event on Sunday with Clemson at 2:30 p.m.

Ole Miss announced three fourth-year players as its weekend rotation: Hunter Elliott on Friday, Maddox on Saturday and Mason Nichols on Sunday. They are the three remaining Rebels from the 2022 national title team.

Maddox would have been a day-three selection in last summer’s MLB Draft but announced his return following the 10th round. Ole Miss pitching coach Joel Mangrum was a significant part of that decision.

“He’s pretty much brought professional baseball to Ole Miss,” Maddox said of Mangrum, the former Cleveland Guardians Minor League Director of Pitching. “It’s one reason I wanted to come back. I would have gotten that in the pros, and it’s a no-brainer to be here and work with him here.”

The Flowood native struck out 43 and walked 18 with a 6.05 ERA last season, pitching the opening game of weekends for a chunk of the year. Maddox was routinely effective a couple times through the order, but Ole Miss struggled defensively and with a lack of run support.

Ole Miss finished 27-29 in 2024.

Maddox, in his final appearance of 2024, shut out Mississippi State through seven innings. He held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in three of his final four starts.

Mangrum added a four-seam fastball to Maddox’s mix, and they’ve worked to increase his fastball velocity while raising his arm slot. Some of the development remains a work in progress, but the comfort increases with each outing.

Maddox relied on a sinker early in his career. He had Tommy John surgery during the second half of the 2022 season.

“The relationships (Mangrum) has built with us have been amazing, and we trust him and he trusts us,” Maddox said. “Development and mechanics and pitch design, every day is getting better.

“I want to compete one pitch at a time and not see it as six innings or whatever. With my stuff now I’m very confident to do that.”