JAMAICA, N.Y. -- It was a day of intensity and emotion. St. Johns entered the final weekend of the regular season knowing it needed to sweep a three-game series from Rutgers in order to reach the conference tournament, with a little bit of help.

After winning Saturdays opener, the Red Storm won the first game of Sundays doubleheader and, after Connecticut beat Pittsburgh, the final game of the season between RU and SJU would determine the final entrant for the conference tournament.

There had never been a more dramatic game played in the young history of The Ballpark and it showed in the final game, as both teams clawed and scraped for runs and for another game to play.

In the end, Rutgers had just enough, as Val Majewski hit a two-run home run to right in the top of the eighth, lifting the Scarlet Knights to a thrilling, hard-fought 11-10 win and advancing the visitors to the conference tournament.

St. Johns finishes the regular season with a 29-23 overall record, and a 14-12 mark in the BIG EAST, while the Scarlet Knights finish at 32-20, and 15-11.

In the nightcap, Rutgers jumped on top of St. Johns, scoring five runs off senior starter Greg Holmes (Stony Brook, N.Y.) and taking a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the third. The Red Storm, however, bounced back and took a 6-5 lead with a six-run inning. Freshman Brett Hardie (Toms River, N.J.) hit a leadoff single and moved third on a double from sophomore Mike Rozema (Fair Lawn, N.J.). A single from senior Billy Graiser (Muttontown, N.Y.) scored Hardie and Rozema came in on a balk, cutting the lead to 5-2. A single from sophomore Anthony DeRosa (Salem, N.H.) put runners on the corners and senior Charlie Bilezikjian (Staten Island, N.Y.) doubled home Graiser and moved DeRosa to third. Senior Jason Kane (Rutherford, N.J.) followed with a double to center, scoring both runners, and he tied the game when sophomore designated hitter Jeremy Winter (Cliffside Park, N.J.) singled up the middle.

Rutgers, however, came back with three runs off junior reliever Tom Klemm (Salem, N.H.) in the fourth to take the lead, 9-8. In the bottom of the inning, St. Johns loaded the bases after a Rozema single, and walks to Graiser and Bilezikjian before Kane unloaded a shot to right for a grand slam, giving St. Johns a 10-8 lead.

The Scarlet Knights would add a single run in the fifth off junior reliever Mike Tamulionis (West Bridgewater, Mass.), cutting the St. Johns lead to one run, before Majewski gave them the lead for good in the eighth.

The Red Storm had a chance in the ninth, with runners on the corners and two out, but junior catcher Asa Grunenwald (Boalsburg, Pa.) lined out to left, ending the dramatics.

In the opener, freshman Jim Wladyka (Rutherford, N.J.) saved his best outing of the season for last, throwing six innings while allowing only one run, in the first inning, on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Rutgers had taken a 1-0 lead after the top of the first, but Graiser tied it with his third home run of the season. A sacrifice bunt from Hardie and an RBI single from Rozema in the fifth gave SJU a 3-1 lead and Tamulionis retired the side in order in the seventh, giving the Red Storm the win.