Emory, Va. -- Angela Sperandeo twirled a four-hit shutout to send University of Lynchburg's softball team into the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship series Thursday afternoon with a 4-0 road win over No. 9 Emory & Henry.

The Hornets' sophomore right-hander was in control the entire way, allowing just one Wasps baserunner to reach scoring position en route to her third-straight victory in the circle. She struck out five, a season-high.

Third-seeded Lynchburg had trouble with E&H hurler Alex Braun in the early going as well. Braun didn't allow a hit in the first two frames, but that all changed in the third. Sophomore first baseman Sophie Tully led off the inning with a double, and Addison Walter, who pinch ran, moved to third on a bunt and scored on Lexi Powell's sacrifice fly to center field for a 1-0 Lynchburg lead.

The Hornets threatened again in the fourth with back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, but Braun pitched out of trouble after a sac bunt with a pair of popouts.

E&H (26-7), the No. 2 seed in the tournament, rallied in the bottom of the fifth, their only true threat of the ballgame, making use of a pair of one-out singles to get a pair of runners aboard. After the second out, a Hornets fielding miscue loaded the bases, but Sperandeo induced an inning-ending flyout to preserve the shutout.

Lynchburg responded with a two-out run in the sixth, Tully singling home Leah Caldwell, who ran for Caroline Joy after the sophomore designated player singled. The Hornets added a pair more to the cushion in the seventh. Powell led off the inning with a double and quickly scored on Kayla Hugate's RBI knock. After a sacrifice and a popout, Hugate came around on Olivia Herman's double down the left-field line for a 4-0 Lynchburg lead.

Sperandeo pitched around a two-out single in the bottom half, getting a lineout to shortstop to send Lynchburg to it's first ODAC championship series since the 2015 season.

It was Sperandeo's second win of the series -- she pitched five strong innings in the Hornets' 6-4 win in Wednesday's Game 1.

Lynchburg (29-16) will have to slay another giant to win the program's seventh ODAC championship (and first since 2009) this weekend; the Hornets will head to No. 2-ranked and top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan for a best-of-three series with the trophy on the line. The Marlins swept Lynchburg in the Hill City earlier this season, but the Hornets have won two straight over VWU in Virginia Beach -- those two wins cemented the NCAA Virginia Beach Regional title in 2019.

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--LYN--