GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Will Gaddis pitched a complete game, four-hit shutout to power No. 4 seed Furman to a 3-0 victory over  No. 5 seed East Tennessee State in the Southern Conference Tournament opening game for both teams Wednesday morning at Fluor Field.

Furman (28-28) will now play No. 1 seed Mercer on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. contest.  The Bears run-ruled The Citadel, 13-1 in seven innings in Wednesday's second game.

Gaddis, who on Monday was named SoCon Pitcher of the Year, backed up his honor with a dominant performance, limiting ETSU (26-29), which entered the game with a .312 team batting average, to just four singles to notch his second complete game of the season.  The sophomore right-hander struck out eight and ran his scoreless streak to 17 1/3 innings, improving to 10-3 on the season.  The 10-win campaign was the first by a Paladin since All-American Tom Mastny went 11-2 in 2003.

Gaddis received all the run support he would need from senior outfielder Griffin Davis, who broke the scoreless tie with a fifth inning, leadoff home run that traveled 405 feet over the center field wall.

The Paladins made it 3-0 in the seventh when Sky Overton stroked a full count pitch thru the middle to drive home Matt Towarnicky and Sims Griffith.

Gaddis pitched his way of the only real trouble he faced in the second inning when Aaron Mayer, his former prep teammate at Brentwood (Tenn.) High School, led off with single and moved to second on a single by Kevin Phillips.  After a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, Gaddis retired Robby McCabe on a short fly to center field and got Andrew Lasure on a groundout to first base.

Gaddis rolled inning-ending double plays in the seventh and eighth, and finished off his two-hour, eight-minute gem with a perfect ninth.  He completed the contest with 99 pitches, including 70 strikes.

Freshman Jake Crawford went 2-for-4 to lead Furman, which finished with seven hits.

The shutout was the first by Furman in SoCon Tournament play since Jeff Stovall blanked The Citadel, 6-0, in 2002.

Furman is now 13-4 in its last 17 games.

ETSU starter Lee Haeberle (4-4) was charged with the loss, surrendering a run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings.  Buccaneer reliever Ryan Simpler was vicitimized by Overton's two-out, two-run single in the seventh.

Hunter Reid, Furman Sports Information