Pitching Rules

[Tom Cook]

I'm having trouble with one little thing. Can a pitcher step outside the 24" pitcher's plate when she steps back? The rest of her steps are inside the plate.
Question #2: I saw this happen during warm-up pitches between innings. The pitcher who has a rather high forward step hit her foot after releasing the ball, which then dribbled toward home plate. I would call this a ball during live play. What would you guys do?