As previously mentioned by esteemed members of the Forum, it is a dead ball and a strike on the batter. Remember: 1) A pitched ball that strikes the batter is (with apologies to the late J. Dallas Shirley, search the Basketball Forum for that reference,
) the ball is always dead. 2) Once (1) occurs the PU must decide if the batter: a) did the batter make a good faith effort to avoid the pitch (this includes deer caught in the headlights look when a fastball runs up and in on the batter and the batter does not have time to react), b) did the batter allow the pitch to hit her, or c) did the batter swing at the pitch. Either (a) or (b) occured or (c) occured. (a) or (b), and (c) cannot occur at the sametime.
MTD, Sr.
P.S. This applies to us that also umpire baseball.