Ole Miss RHP Riley Maddox Needed Strong Outing vs. EKU as 'Confidence Booster'

Ole Miss Rebels starter Riley Maddox saw an increase in his confidence after a solid outing against Eastern Kentucky on Saturday.

Ole Miss Rebels RHP Riley Maddox prepares to throw a pitch against the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss., on Feb. 22, 2025. The Rebels won the game 9-4. | Ole Miss Athletics

OXFORD -- The Ole Miss Rebels claimed a series-clinching win over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Saturday by a final score of 9-4 at Swayze Field, and that was thanks in large part to a solid outing from starting right-hander Riley Maddox.

Maddox figures to be a key piece of the Rebels' pitching rotation this season, and despite a strong beginning to his first outing of the season last weekend against Texas, he only lasted 3.1 innings after things fell apart in the fourth. Maddox was credited with seven hits and six earned runs as Ole Miss was run-ruled 10-0 at the Shriners Children's College Showdown in Arlington.

On Saturday, however, that changed. Maddox dominated a struggling Eastern Kentucky team, going five innings and allowing just three hits and no runs while striking out five.

"It was really more about beating myself today," Maddox said postgame. "That was kind of the difference there. I had to figure it out, develop it, and do the best I could.

"I knew that my best would beat their best, so it was a lot of that, a lot of good pitch calling and some good defense."

The Texas outing brought some good and some bad for Maddox this week. On one hand, he started the game last Saturday rather clean, but the wheels fell off in the fourth inning, and Ole Miss could never recover. Since then, the focus for the Rebel righty has been what it usually is: simply working on his craft.

"I started off really strong, and that last inning kind of blew up on me. It happens," Maddox said. "I have to just keep working, keep getting better every week.

"We figure maybe I was tipping pitches a little bit, but I don't use that as an excuse. Helps me feel better as a pitcher," he added with a laugh. "Refining the cutter and sweeper and fastball command, all those little things and just trying to get better each and every week."

Although Eastern Kentucky is now 0-6 on the year after Saturday's loss to Ole Miss, this game served as a mental boost for Maddox. If he is going to figure in as the No. 2 arm in this starting rotation, the Rebels are going to need that confidence to continue to grow in the weeks leading up to SEC play.

"This was definitely a huge confidence booster," Maddox said. "I definitely needed that. I try not to look at the stats, but you see a 16 ERA up there, it's kind of tough to look at. So we're backing it down, slowly but surely."

The Rebels will go for the sweep over Eastern Kentucky on Sunday at noon CT.