Senior Tom Durant was probably one of the most visible members of the Ohio State baseball team last weekend. The OSU catcher was caught in the middle of three disputed calls during the Big Ten Tournament.”I consider myself a good competitor. I don’t like to lose, no matter what I am doing,” he said, “I’m a very emotional person and I like to show it.”Baseball is unique in the way that a player must approach failure, he said.”It’s hard dealing with the failures of baseball. It’s like no other sport, and if you can’t deal with the failures then you aren’t going to go very far,” Durant said.His teammates attest to the fact that Durant hates failure.”Durant’s got an explosive attitude. He has a tendency to throw bats at practice,” junior Mike Lockwood said.Not only does Durant like to throw bats, but he also breaks bones. Earlier in the season he broke sophomore relief-catcher Chris Alvord’s nose.”He threw a ball at me, it hit me in the nose, and then he went running into the lockeroom,” Alvord said with a grin. Durant told the story a little differently.”Him and Cory (Cox) were messing around one time throwing balls at each other. I was sneaking up behind him and tossed a ball at him. It just happened that he bent down and it hit him in the nose,” Durant said. “But he deserved it.”Joking aside, Durant has staked his claim as a leader of the OSU baseball team. This season he is batting .330 with seven home runs and 10 stolen bases on 13 attempts, a feat uncharacteristic of catchers.Durant follows a legacy of Ohio State baseball players. His father, John Durant, played for the Buckeyes from 1961-65. His brother, Mike Durant, was an OSU catcher in the 1989-91 seasons, going on to play for the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees.”At times it’s kind of hard. Everybody’s always comparing you to your brother or asking you about the family tradition,” Durant said.He has settled into being himself and not playing in the shadows of his family tree, he said.”After a couple of years I figured there was no use trying to be somebody I’m not,” Durant said. “I just go out there and try to give 110 percent every time.”Durant did not foresee his baseball career extending all the way to OSU until high school. The 1995 graduate of Bishop Watterson said he was a small child, but when he got to high school he grew. This is when his baseball performance improved.”My size started to develop and my skills did too,” he said.When the team was playing Houston in March, fans were commenting that Durant was underweight. The joke has followed the 6 foot 3 inch, 215 lb senior.”I think that if he gains a little weight, he could really excel in the next level,” Lockwood joked.On a more serious note, OSU coach Bob Todd thinks that Durant will probably go professional.”I think that some team will give him a shot to play professionally. He’s a tremendous athlete,” Todd said.Should the majors come calling, Durant would jump at the opportunity to make baseball his career.”It’s been a dream of mine ever since I was little to play professional baseball. I know that it’s a lot different from college ball, but I want to try and fulfill my dream,” he said.Durant is not picky about which team he would like to play for.”Anybody that wants me will be my favorite team,” Durant said. Durant does not take what OSU baseball has taught him for granted, he said.”Playing a Division I sport takes a lot of work and discipline. You can take that with you, whatever you do. I try to take that same drive and determination I have on the field with me in my classes,” the marketing major said.