The Austin softball team may have been a little groggy when that they learned they had to play four straight games beginning at 8 a.m. in the Austin Elks Invite at Todd Park Saturday. But they woke up in a hurry.

The Packers (5-8 overall) amassed 43 hits as they won three out of the four games they played as Austin lost to Owatonna 15-6, beat Blooming Prairie 15-4 in six innings, topped Pine Island 10-0 in five innings and beat Esko 8-2.

Austin senior catcher Sydney Murphy had a career day as she finished 11-for-12 with three homers, three doubles and 11 RBIs.

“It was unbelievable. It was crazy,” Austin head coach Al Eckmann said. “She was hitting the ball so hard that I backed out of the coaches box. Those were shots coming down this way.”

Murphy hit a two-run homer to put Austin up 3-0 against BP, she blasted a grand slam to put away Pine Island and she capped the day with a two-run homer to put Austin up 7-2 against Esko.

Murphy said she has never had a productive day at the plate in all of her years playing softball like she did on Saturday.

“After the first game I felt like it was going to be a good day, but I didn’t think it was going to be that good,” Murphy said. “We kind of just thought of today as a day where we could get better and show everybody what we’re made of. We just really fed off each other and if one person got a good hit, everybody else wanted to have a good hit.”

Austin junior Shayley Vesel and Jordan Huntley also had homers on Saturday. Huntley, who hit her first career homer last weekend against Rochester Mayo, said the Packers are feeling much better after scoring three straight wins.

“We got past all of the losses and we came together to be a great team today,” Huntley said. “We kept our heads in it and stayed positive.”

Austin was able to avoid big errors on Saturday and the Packers were able to get 21 players in the game throughout the day. Kenzi Steinbrink, Jaidyn Bastian and Brooke Pazurek each picked up one win in the circle.

“Our pitching stepped up and our bats were really good today,” Eckmann said. “I think we needed that and if we get a couple of wins this week, we could get back to .500 by the end of next week.”

Austin 8, Esko 2

Austin pitching: Jaidyn Bastian (W) 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 7 K

Austin hitting: Bailee Brooks, 1-for-3, R, BB; Justine Reimers, 0-for-2, R, BB; Sydney Murphy, 2-for-2, HR, 2 RBIs, 2 R, 2 BBs; Shayley Vesel, 0-for-1, 3 R, 3 BBs; Bastian, 1-for-4; Jordan Huntley, 2-for-4, double, 3 RBIs; Kelsey Sederquest, 1-for-3, BB; Brooke Pazurek, 0-for-4; Ally Wood, 0-for-4; Maddie Mullenbach, R, SB

Austin 10, Pine Island 0

Austin pitching: Kenzi Steinbrink (W) 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 K, 1 HBP

Austin hitting: Brooks, 2-for-3, RBI; Reimers, 2-for-3, 2 R; Murphy, 2-for-3, HR, 4 RBIs, 2 R, HBP; Vesel, 0-for-3, R; Bastian, 2-for-3, 2 RBIs; Huntley, 0-for-3; Brandi Myers, 1-for-3, RBI; Wood, 0-for-2, RBI

Austin 15, BP 4 (6 innings)

Austin pitching: Pazurek (W) 4 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 R, 3 K; Hannah Rasmussen, 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R

Austin hitting: Brooks, 3-for-5, 2 R; Justine Reimers, 1-for-4, R; Murphy, 4-for-4, HR, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, 3 R, BB; Vesel, 4-for-5, double, 3 RBIs; Jaidyn Bastian, 1-for-5, RBI; Jordan Huntley, 2-for-2, 2 RBIs; Sederquest, 2-for-3, RBI; Keisha Berg, 1-for-3, RBI; Ally Wood, 2-for-4; Jessi Pell, 1-for-2, 2 RBIs; Abby Gogolewski, 1-for-1, double

Owatonna 15, Austin 6

Austin hitting: Brooks, 1-for-4, R; Goglewski, 1-for-2; Murphy, 3-for-4, double, RBI; Vesel, 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBIs; Jordan Huntley, 1-for-3, HR, RBI, R; Kenzi Steibrink, 1-for-2