Ohio State swept Penn State on Saturday and Sunday to win its first Big Ten regular-season championship in 17 years.

The Buckeyes (35-16, 14-2 Big Ten) earned the right to host the conference tournament by scoring all four of their runs in the seventh inning for a 4-0 win on Sunday. They earned a 4-2 victory on Saturday to start the sweep.

No. 7 Northwestern (43-10, 15-3) needed Ohio State to lose one of its two games this weekend in order to win its second straight regular-season title. The Wildcats split their season series with the Buckeyes.

NU will face Michigan State (33-25, 7-9) to open the Big Ten tournament on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. The Cats swept the Spartans in a Sunday doubleheader on April 1.

The top eight teams in the conference make the single-elimination tournament.

The championship game will be Saturday, May 12.

The Wildcats took the first two games of the Big Ten tournament in Evanston last year before falling 6-0 to Michigan in the championship game.

In coach Kate Drohan’s six years as head coach at NU, the team has never missed a Big Ten tournament and has finished in the top six in the conference each year.