MSU softball: can someone explain?

[M.Fillmore]

Pardon if Germans.

Here is a quote from HailState.com on the loss to Florida State.

"Florida State scored its first two runs of the game on a zany play in the bottom of the second. With a runner on second and two outs, Celeste Gomez struck out swinging on an 0-2 count and headed toward the dugout. The Bulldog defense trotted off the field after the appeared third out, the ball sat idle in the circle, but the Seminole base runners kept running. With all players off the playing surface except for Morgan Bullock and Gomez, both Noles trotted all the way home, ending an inexplicable turn of events which gave FSU two unearned runs."

There have to be more details. I doubt FSU was granted 4 outs by the NCAA.

[state66]

the batter never went into the dugout so was never declared out on the dropped third strike which allowed the runs to score.

[Todd4State]

Did the umpire not make a signal that the ball was live?

I used to play softball and they had ASA (American Softball Association) umpires and they seemed to bend certain rules at certain time and be sticklers for other rules at other times.

In fact, one threatened to kick me out of a game because...... I was using a donut bat weight in the on deck circle. He just came up to me and goes "I'm about to kick you out of the game" to which I replied- "May I ask why?" and then he said he was "afraid the donut was going to fly off of my bat and hurt someone." To which I replied- "you know, I've watched over 1000 baseball games in my life. I haven't seen that happen in my entire life. And with the fact that the barrel of my bat is bigger than the donut, I'm not sure if I ever will." I have seen a couple get stuck on a bat before though.

[maroonmania]

the batter never went into the dugout so was never declared out on the dropped third strike which allowed the runs to score.

Now that is just stupid to me, the rule SHOULD be that if a batter on a dropped third strike LEAVES the general batting area without staying along the baseline then they are out anyway. I've never heard of another situation where a baserunner (which is what the batter becomes when the third strike is dropped) can roam out to near the dugout and then come back and run to a base. That is beyond absurd and if it happened in a baseball game then I would feel like the entire game had been cheapened. Softball should be no different.

[Coach34]

well, the catcher should have known they dropped the 3rd strike and tagged them as a precaution anytime it might be any question

[Bo Darville]

well, the catcher should have known they dropped the 3rd strike and tagged them as a precaution anytime it might be any question

Exactly. Anytime the catcher drops a third strike, or even thinks he/she may have dropped it, you always tag the batter as a precaution.

[state66]

Now that is just stupid to me, the rule SHOULD be that if a batter on a dropped third strike LEAVES the general batting area without staying along the baseline then they are out anyway. I've never heard of another situation where a baserunner (which is what the batter becomes when the third strike is dropped) can roam out to near the dugout and then come back and run to a base. That is beyond absurd and if it happened in a baseball game then I would feel like the entire game had been cheapened. Softball should be no different.

The batter is not in fair territory while batting and the batters box is also foul territory of course. The batter is also not in the baseline until he advances from the batter box or foul territory to the baseline in fair territory therefore in baseball and softball on a dropped third strike he/she can walk back to the dugout but the ball is still considered in play because the batter is in foul territory and has yet to leave the playing surface by entering the dugout where he/she would be deemed out. As long as she didnt walk into the dugout she could turn around and advance to first. all in all its on the catcher and the coach no reason a catcher shouldnt realize they didnt catch the ball clean and should now have to put out the batter/runner to make sure.

[maroonmania]

Well you can still be considered legally in the basepath running to first OR running to home from third and not be in fair territory either so that argument is lame. And advancing from the batter's box to the baseline is totally different than a batter leaving the general batting area toward the dugout and THEN being allowed to return to some point of the basepath, I guess, and being allowed to THEN legally run to first. Like I said the rule SHOULD be written as I stated, written any other way is simply illogical, which we know baseball/softball rules can sometimes be. Yes, no doubt, the catcher should have hunted the batter down and applied the tag but that is different than the point I'm making that once the batter deliberately leaves the general batting area with no attempt to run to first they should be declared out regardless if the strike was dropped or not. Now the ump should have the responsibility to alert the batter that the ball wasn't caught because sometimes it may not be obvious to the batter that the ball hit the ground. Heck you could have the situation where the catcher thinks they caught the ball cleanly but the umpire disagrees. If the ump alerts everyone to the dropped third strike call right off the bat at least everyone is on the same page.

[state66]

all the umpire is suppose to do is give a safe signal if he believes the third strike was dropped its up to him to verbalize if he feels the need and after that its up to everyone else to figure out what to do.

[maroonmania]

all the umpire is suppose to do is give a safe signal if he believes the third strike was dropped its up to him to verbalize if he feels the need and after that its up to everyone else to figure out what to do.

I'm down with that but part of "everyone else figuring out what to do" is that the batter should check the umpire to verify that the catcher caught the ball before leaving the batting area. At the point the batter has left the area to go back to the dugout and the teams are clearing the field its time to declare that the batter has given himself up as an out.

[SnakePlissken]

At the point the batter has left the area to go back to the dugout and the teams are clearing the field its time to declare that the batter has given himself up as an out. I think this is the key....the batter gave herself up by going to the dugout and thus causing the team to clear the field of play

[state66]

I think this is the key....the batter gave herself up by going to the dugout and thus causing the team to clear the field of play

Personally I think it should be ruled this way. The batter is given 3 feet from the baseline into foul and fair territory to run and whatever else, hence the reason the runner can be in foul territory while on third as long as he doesnt go beyond 3 feet from the baseline during a play or else they would be ruled out for being out of the baseline. So if the third strike is dropped the batter has 3 feet from the batters box only in foul territory to run or he is deemed out. Anyway else to put it I dont know cause she technically never left foul territory where she started in the batters box so a 3 foot rule could help eliminate that if the rules committee thought it made any sense.