Chicago Bandits 2008-present

2008: "Folden is Golden," not only was Rachel Folden Chicago's most successful rookie, she also took the NPF by storm…Folden made a big splash on the Bandits roster…The Bandits seleted Folden with the seventh overall pick (second round) in the 2008 NPF draft…Folden was named the 2008 Nokona American Glove Rookie of the Year…The former Marshall alum ranked fourth in the NPF with 32 RBI's and fifth in the league with 11 home runs…Her .311 batting average ranked sixth in the NPF…Folden tallied 38 hits and 25 runs on 122 at-bats…Folden recorded four doubles and along with Lindsay Schutzler was the only other player on the Bandits to hit a triple…Folden walked 31 times and stole three bases…The former Thundering Herd was hit by five pitches…She tallied a .468 on-base-percentage and slugged .631.

Marshall University 2005-2008
2008: Lightly put, Folden had one of the most prolific senior seasons in Conference-USA history...with the Thundering Herd, Folden led the C-USA in slugging (.902), on-base-percentage (.562) and walks (45)...Folden's .425 batting average, 53 runs, 20 doubles, 17 home runs and 138 total bases all ranked second in the C-USA....The Herd went 26-29 overall and 11-11 in conference play...Folden also recorded 65 hits, sixth most in the C-USA...led Marshall in batting average, runs, hits, doubles (her 20 were twice as much as the second leading Marshall player), home runs, slugging, walks and on-base-percentage...started 53 games with 153 at-bats...2007: Guided the Herd to the C-USA semifinal...named to the 2007 Conference USA First Team and earned a spot on the C-USA All-Academic team with a 3.20 cumulative GPA...became the second player in school history to be named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Mideast Region First Team for a third consecutive season...earned Louisville Slugger/NCFA All-American Second Team honors for a second straight season...finished her junior season as the C-USA leader with a career best .408 batting average...league leader in slugging percentage (.758), on-base percentage (.560), runs scored (47) and walks (51)...second among the league’s elite in home runs (14), fourth in RBI (47) and eighth in stolen bases (12)...first player in school history to record more than 100 total bases for three straight seasons...holds the all-time Marshall records for home runs (41) and RBI (163)...enters the upcoming season fourth on the all-time list in runs (116), second in doubles (43) and second in total bases (367)...defenisvely, Folden led the team with 10 runners picked off...was named to the C-USA All-Tournament team...2007 Fellowship Christian Athlete Female of the Year...2006: Regular Season Player of the Year...named to the All-Conference USA and NFCA All-Mideast Region first teams...earned All-America honors for the second straight season, being named to the NFCA/Louisville Slugger second team...won the elusive Conference USA “Triple Crown”, leading C-USA in batting average, home runs and RBI...she tied the Conference USA single-season home run record with a school-record of 18 home runs...tied with Leigh Wintter as Marshall’s all-time home run leader with 27 blasts...became the first player in school history to amass 50-plus RBI in consecutive seasons...also finished as the C-USA leader in conference-only home runs (7) and RBI (23)...on March 4, she became the first player in school history to hit three home runs in a game...clinched her second C-USA Hitter of the Week honor on May 1 after tying the C-USA single-season home run mark in the final weekend of the regular season...2005: Made an immediate impact as a freshman, leading the Thundering Herd to
its second Mid-American Conference regular season championship in the last three seasons...was a three-time MAC East Division Player of the Week honoree (March 21, April 25, May 2)...led the Herd in batting average (.406), hits (73), doubles (19), RBI (60), total bases (119), slugging percentage (.661), on-base percentage (.468) and fielding percentage (.993)...Was one of only three players to start all 58 games in 2005...Had 20 multi-hit and 16 multi-RBI games...Began her college career with a nine-gamehitting streak that included six multi-hit games.

Personal: Daughter of Michael and Gina Folden...has two older brothers, Leo and Russell...majoring in mathematics...had jersey retired