Penalty
If an infraction is discovered immediately after a batter completes his appearance, then the umpire considers that batter and the previous one. If the batter who just finished batting does not follow the previous batter in the written order, his plate appearance was improper, any advances or scores due to his action are nullified, he is removed from the bases if he reached, and the proper batter is called out. Outs made against runners other than the improper batter stand. For example, if the improper batter hits into a double play, in which he was put out as well as another runner, the defense can still appeal that he was the improper batter. If this is the case, the proper batter is declared out, the improper batter's putout is taken away, and the batter that follows the proper batter who was declared out will come to the plate. The runner involved in the double play remains out. If any additional runners advanced on the play because of the batted ball by the improper batter, they would have to return to the base they occupied at the time of the pitch. This means that if a runner steals a base during an improper batter's at-bat, that runner remains on that base since it was obtained through his own effort.
In softball, any outs made against the improper batter will also stand. Thus, it is quite possible to have a single batter cause three outs with no one on base. Example: Leadoff hitter strikes out for first out, decides to remain at bat and grounds out on the next pitch for the second out. Defense appeals that she is now batting out of order, proper batter is the 2nd hitter in the lineup, who is called out. Three Outs.
If the infraction is discovered during a plate appearance (that is, a pitch has been thrown to the current batter), then the umpire considers the current batter and the previous one. If the current batter's name does not follow the previous actual batter's name in the written order, the current batter is improper. There is no penalty, but the situation is rectified--the proper batter comes to bat and assumes the improper batter's current count. In this situation, if the proper batter is on base, then he is simply skipped in the order, and the next batter in the order is now the proper batter.
Read more about this topic: Batting Out Of Turn
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