Baseball-Dead Ball Situation

Question
Runner on 2nd- 1 out- batter bunts ball but makes contact in front of home plate with ball. Is called out by home plate umpire. Runner on 2nd goes to 3rd- opposing coach says runner must go back to second. Umpire says no- he can advance as far as he wants.

Who is right???

Thanks

Answer
Denny,

The coach is right - as soon as the batter makes contact with the ball, the ball is dead.  If the runner had already passed the halfway point to third (like he was running with the pitch for example) he can continue on to third.  However, in most cases, he would need to return to second.

In no circumstance could the runner advance at will - at most they would get one base.

Hope this helps!

Brian