March 31, 2005

By Bob Volkert, Sports Information Assistant

On the field, juniors Alan and Sean Stidfole are about as competitive as it gets. Off the field, the twin brothers are just the opposite - laid back and easy-going. Together, the New Bloomfield, Pa. natives form two-fifths of a Penn State starting rotation that is beginning to take shape under first-year head coach Robbie Wine.

Sean, a 6-foot, 3-inch, 193-pound right-hander leads the Big Ten in starts (6), complete games (2), innings pitched (37.1) and strikeouts (38). He is also the team leader in wins with three.

Alan, a 6-2, 187 left-hander is right behind his brother with a 2-1 record and 20 strikeouts in 27.2 innings in five appearances (four starts).

The twins have rarely been separated. They played baseball together all the way through Little League and high school, and are now here together at Penn State. The longest they've been separated was for about 10 days, when Alan went to the beach with his girlfriend and her parents. He claims it was a "nice getaway."

The Stidfoles are also roommates on the road, where both say that they don't really talk that much.

"We really try not to talk too much," Sean said. "We are normally together with anything we do, and it would probably feel weird not rooming with him. We're so used to it, and he doesn't snore that loud, so it's not a big deal. We generally get along. We don't talk about things that would be a touchy subject at the time. If I lost a game, we don't talk about it."

"We pretty much know what the other is thinking, so we don't need to say too much," said Alan. "It's kind of annoying to talk because of that. We share the same viewpoints on a lot of things. It gets to be too much at times."

While it wasn't planned for them to go to the same college, both are enjoying the time together before heading off to pro baseball or the "real world."

"It was cool to come to the same college," Alan said. "It sure makes it easier to be known, because everybody knows us as the baseball twins. It makes it kind of special, and it made it easier to adjust to the college life. It was kind of nice to know someone when I got here. But as far as baseball goes it doesn't matter, we don't need to play on the same team. We weren't planning on going to the same college. It just worked out that way."

Growing up, the two competed at everything like most brothers do. The competition started when they were playing tee ball, but it started to grow when they hit Little League baseball.

"When I started in Little League, I wanted to be a catcher," Sean said. "My dad persuaded me into being a pitcher. I just wanted to be a catcher for the equipment. Catchers had all of this cool equipment and pitchers only had a glove. It was kind of funny. Alan also caught in Little League for a while. Sometimes I would catch, and he would pitch, or I would pitch and he would catch."

Outside of the diamond, both Alan and Sean have other talents that make them a unique pair. Both fooled around with music during their teen years, and still do when they have the time. It started with Sean playing the drums, while Alan played guitar.

"It started when I was in church and there was this new big wave of contemporary music coming into the churches," Sean said. "They had a guitar player, drums and a keyboard player. I had never seen anything like that."

That is where Sean began to play the drums, and Alan took piano lessons when he was younger.

Eventually Alan began fooling around with playing the guitar.

"When I started to get good at playing the guitar, Sean got interested in playing it because he doesn't like to be in the background," Alan said. "He wants to be better at everything. He worked really hard at it and he's pretty good."

Sean now plays the guitar, piano and drums, and Alan still plays the guitar and piano. The two can sometimes be found at Ye Olde College Diner in Downtown State College on its open mic nights.

On the less competitive side of things, Sean tries to spend some time volunteering at the State College Food Bank. He got started there during the Fall 2004 semester while taking a class. It is something that he can't do during baseball season because of the academic and athletic demands placed on him. But it is something he enjoys.

"I had to do a community service project through a leadership class that I took," Sean said. "I went down and organized a student clothing drive. I did most of the work in my hometown over a few weekends. It was nice to go down and see that at the Food Bank. I had fun doing it, it's a great way to get involved and I had fun with it."

Alan, who has thrown a baseball left-handed since tee-ball, writes right-handed, and even throws a football with his right hand.

In fact, he can throw a football about 40 yards.

"It's a pretty good toss," he said.

Alan can also throw a baseball right handed, but not quite as well as he can with his left hand. He was clocked throwing a baseball at 76 MPH in high school. He has always wanted to try to pitch with his right hand in a game.

"I've always wanted to try it," said Alan, who started throwing left-handed when an aunt gave him a left-handed glove for tee ball. "But I don't think right now is the time to start." Back on the field, the Stidfole's have been on a roll as of late. Alan is 2-0 with 18 strikeouts, just 3 walks and a 0.73 ERA over 12.1 innings in his last two starts. Sean has pitched two consecutive complete games, winning both of his last two starts. He has struck out 14, walked three and has a 1.29 ERA in 14.0 innings of work over that span.

Sean will pitch in Penn State's Big Ten opener at 3 p.m. Friday at Purdue, while Alan will make his first career conference start at 1 p.m. Sunday at Purdue.

They are a big reason why the Nittany Lions are off to one of their best starts in the past 20 years. They have become two of the leaders on this squad after the graduation of six seniors last year.

"We love being thought of that way," Alan said. "I think Sean is a good role model for the younger guys. I have never felt like we've carried teams, even in high school. But we've always worked hard, and that's the biggest thing. I'm happy with the way the season is going because I worked really hard in the winter. And I know the other guys feel that way too. They worked hard during the winter as well."