Russellville’s Judd Ward became the first Auburn baseball player to hit for the cycle since 2005 as the Tigers defeated Illinois-Chicago in a game Feb. 15.

Ward completed the rare feat of collecting a single, double, triple and home run in one game during an 18-1 home win. The junior outfielder and lead-off man tripled in the first inning, singled in the fourth, homered in the sixth and brought the crowd to their feet with a double in the eighth.

Hitting for the cycle isn’t done often, but Ward also accomplished it in high school as a member of the Russellville Golden Tigers during the team’s run as three-time 5A state champions.

So far this season, Ward is batting .313 for the 5-3 Auburn team. Through eight games, he is 10-for-32 at the plate and has an OPS of .948.

Another former Russellville High School standout is teammate Cody Greenhill.

The junior right-hander has a 0.00 ERA in two appearances for Auburn this season. He has one save and has pitched 7.2 innings, allowing three hits and one walk while striking out nine batters for Coach Butch Thompson’s team.

Opposing hitters have only a .125 batting average so far this season versus Greenhill.