elbow to ball
 

What about "dead ball strike", but I guess no swing?

R1 is on second base. The batter has a count of two balls and one strike. The pitcher pitches a ball not in the batter's box and the batter intentionally strikes the ball with their elbow. What is the call?

A. Dead ball, award batter first base.

B. Dead ball, award batter first base and R1 third base.

C. Dead ball, batter remains in the batter's box and the count is three balls and one strike.

D. None of the above.

It would be weird to have a swing and the ball hits a batter so I'd have to assume the player in the scenario just just her elbow out to try to get a HBP.

I'm going with C as writen. If you add prevented the ball from entering the strike zone, D.

Assuming NFHS

This question appeared on the 2025 exam with "C" the correct answer.

I think the scenario was trying to get to the point of a pitched ball that was entirely inside the batter's box versus the question's "not in the batter's box". That may have been a relatively recent amended rule. I also think this is one of those rules that differs slightly from USASB.

So when a batter is hit by a pitched ball, it's always an immediate dead ball. I don't watch a lot of college softball, but it's not unusual for a batter to lean into a pitched ball with an elbow or a knee. And I don't know how the college rule reads in this case.

For the purposes of this OP, a dead ball strike could well be an option based on umpire judgement. It may bring the coach out for a discussion, especially if the count previously included 2 strikes and this resulted in a dead ball strike 3.