Ann Arbor - For the first time in history, the MSU softball team has brought home a Big Ten title. The No. 8 seed Spartans defeated No. 2 seed Illinois, 7-5, Saturday afternoon to clinch the Big Ten Softball tournament title.

With the win, MSU (34-24 overall) also earned the Big Ten's automatic bid for the NCAA tournament. It will be the second consecutive NCAA bid for the Spartans. They face Texas A&M in Athens, Ga., on Thursday.

"I really can't even put into words how excited we all are to win this," third base senior Brittney Green said. "We feel on cloud nine right now."

MSU, 5-9 in Big Ten play heading into the tournament, was the last seed in the tournament. Only eight of the 11 Big Ten teams earn spots in the tournament field. Despite their low seeding, the Spartans felt their chance to win was as good as any.

"Even though we were the No. 8 seed, we felt like we could be a No. 3 or 4 seed," senior pitcher Jessica Beech said. "We were inconsistent throughout the season but we felt we could compete with anybody."

The Spartans who had been struggling to put together all aspects of the game relied on their senior leaders to step up.

And step up they did, especially in the championship game.

Green was a huge factor for the Spartans throughout the weekend. Coming into the tournament, she was struggling with her hitting, Green went 4-for-8 at bat, including three home runs, two of which came in the championship game.

First base senior, Nat Furrow shined with her defensive play and her consistent hitting, going 2-3 against Illinois with one RBI. Beech finished up a solid weekend, pitching seven innings, striking out six batters and allowing five runs on 12 hits. The Illinois game was her third complete pitching game of the weekend.

"We played very consistent all weekend," head coach Jacquie Joseph said. "We had good pitching, hitting and defense which was the difference."

To get to the championship game, the Spartans faced a challenging road, playing three of the four best teams in the conference.

The Spartans first had to face top seeded Michigan (50-10) on its home field Thursday night. After a quick score by Michigan in the first inning, the rest of the game belonged to the Spartans. MSU scored four runs in the fourth inning including a three-run home run by Green. The Spartans would add one more run in the fifth to pull the 5-1 upset over the Wolverines. Michigan's loss was only its second of the season at home, both coming against MSU.

"It was a huge, huge, huge win for our program," Joseph said. "The players knew that if they could beat a team like Michigan they could beat anyone."

The Spartans then defeated Northwestern (32-18) in the second round Saturday afternoon. The game, originally scheduled for Friday night was postponed due to weather and followed the conclusion of Northwestern's first round game. Sophomore catcher Elizabeth Peterson went 2-3 and hit in the driving runs to give the Spartans a 2-1 victory over the Wildcats.

MSU completed its amazing run to the title against Illinois, just a few hours after beating Northwestern.

"I'm thrilled for the kids, for our program and for MSU," Joseph said. "It's quite an honor to win this tournament and to be going again to the tournament."