STARKVILLE, Miss. — The Mississippi State Bulldogs cap off their nonconference regular season schedule with an 8-4 win over North Alabama. The story of the game was the return of Bulldog pitcher Nate Dohm. 

The Indiana native missed the past five weekends due to injury and was the MSU ace to start the season. The long-awaited return exceeded expectations as the hard-throwing righty tossed two perfect innings. 

However, it did not start well for MSU as they were tied at two, with the Lions going into the sixth inning. Joe Powell broke the tie with this second home run of the day, a three-run shot. 

Another impressive pitcher was Colby Holcombe, who pitched two solid innings and gave up one run on a home run. Cam Schuelke pitched the final 3.2 innings and was his usual self. 

The Michigan native gave up two runs and had six strikeouts. It was not a pretty game, but all that mattered was getting the win and avoiding injury. 

The Bulldogs stayed on path for hosting a regional, and now they turn their sights to a three-game series with Missouri. State needs to win the series and they will likely host a sweep removes all doubt. 

The series starts on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+. 

Former Alabama defensive lineman Khurtiss Perry has committed to Virginia Tech, On3’s Pete Nakos has confirmed. Perry’s 2023 season with the Crimson Tide was his redshirt freshman one, meaning he will have three years of eligibility remaining in Blacksburg.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel was first to report the news.

Perry played high school football at Pike Road (AL) High School, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 66 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

As a senior in high school, Perry recorded 76 tackles, 22 sacks and 30 quarterback hurries. He originally chose Alabama over offers from Auburn, Clemson and Texas.

Despite his blue-chip status coming out of high school, Perry was not able to make too big of an impact with Alabama. He appeared in just one game over two seasons, getting on the field during last year’s season opener against Middle Tennessee State. No statistics were recorded.

There is still thought to be a lot of potential with Perry, just needing to settle down at the right place. Everyone is hoping Virginia Tech can be the school for him.

Due to entering the portal during the spring window, Perry could not transfer to an SEC school without sitting out the entirety of the 2024 season. This brought attention from ACC and Big Ten schools, setting up visits with Louisville, Indiana, and Wisconsin per Thamel.

However, the Wisconsin trip was reported on Monday as Perry was set to officially visit at a later date this week.

Virginia Tech was able to lock the defensive lineman down, though. A nice win for head coach Brent Pry as he moves into his third season with the program. There has been improvement thus far, reaching and winning a bowl game for the first time since 2016.

Perry is the type of player the Hokies can develop and if he reaches his potential, Virginia Tech could have one of the best defensive linemen in the country. A bigger summer is ahead for both sides before heading into fall camp and getting the 2024 season underway.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

A sculptor Tuesday unveiled a working model of a statue of disability rights advocate Helen Keller planned for the grounds of the Alabama State Capitol.

Jay Warren, an Oregon-based sculptor, showed the statue at a meeting of the Women’s Tribute Statue Commission. The life-size monument features Keller sitting on a bench, holding a book written in Braille with one hand while reaching out with the other, as if feeling something.

Warren said he’ll add clay to the foam armature next, allowing details to be fleshed out.

“Next time I have something to show you, it will all be the same color. All the details will be put in the dress and on the book also,” Warren said.

Warren has designed statues of historical figures around the country, including Rosa Parks; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Congressman John Lewis and Medgar Evers in Mississippi. Warren also designed the Emancipation and Freedom Monument in Virginia.

The commission members said they were impressed by the proposal.

“I mean- wow,” said Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, who chairs the commission.

“Very inspiring,” said Annie Butrus, a Birmingham artist and member of the commission.

Rev. Agnes Lover, a member of the commission, said that she loved that she could see the Braille as well read the inscription on the other side in the book Keller is holding.

The committee also got an update on the plaque that will go on each statue. The commission is considering the other plaques currently on the James Marion Sims, the John Allan Wyeth and the Jefferson Davis sculptures as well as historical language that has been used to describe both women.

The Rosa Parks statue’s plaque was initially envisioned to have her name along with date of birth and death, but the other statues have at least one sentence describing the individual.

“This is definitely the important piece to get right: the language that will be on both signs needs to take into account all the other language that’s been published,” Butrus said.

The commission last year approved a statue of Parks, which will be installed on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol. The statue has been designed by Georgia-based Julia Knight and is in the final stages of construction. Both Parks and Keller’s statues could go up in Montgomery early next year. The commission is currently reviewing bids for the Keller and Parks statue site development.

The statues are expected to cost about $611,000, according to previous projections. The commission has raised about $700,000 for the statues. The remaining amount will be used for site maintenance.

The Alabama Legislature in 2019 approved the installation of statues of Keller and Parks on the Alabama State Capitol grounds, the first women to be so honored.

Parks’ arrest on a segregated Montgomery bus in 1955 sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, considered the beginning of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Keller, a Tuscumbia native who lost her sight and hearing before her second birthday, became a world-renowned author and advocate for the rights of the disabled.