runner being hit

Question
Hi,
I played in a game tonight and we had a situation happen where bases were loaded and the runner at 3rd was hit by a linedrive while standing on the base. what is the ruling on the field (ex. dead ball, live ball, runners can advance). We had 0 outs at the time of the incident. The runner on 1st ran to 2nd so we had to runners on 2nd and the hitter was on 1st. The runner at 3rd was on the floor when the ball was thrown back to the infield. When is the umpire at liberty to call the ball dead. The runner who was hit was eventually called out too.

Thanks


Answer
Hi Louie,


The runner is not out....

8-8- M. When hit by a batted ball while in contact with a base, unless the runner intentionally interferes with the ball or a fielder
making a play.

Now it depends where the closest defensive player was.

RS 4444. RUNNER HIT BY A FAIR BATTED BALL.
A. While in Contact With the Base. A runner who is hit by a fair batted
ball while in contact with the base should not be called out unless the
act is intentional. The ball remains live, or becomes immediately dead,
depending on the closest defensive player. When the closest defensive
player is in front of the base that the runner is in contact with, the ball remains live. However, when the closest defensive player is behind the base, the ball is dead. Should the ball be ruled dead and the batter
awarded a base hit, only runners forced to advance because the batter
was placed on first base shall advance one base.

Mark