forced out at first

Question
Dr. Mark,
 We were at a game not too long ago and the batter hit a ball to the infield.  The infielder overthre the ball to first into foul territory.  The first basemen then fell down and picked up the ball and touched the orange bag with her foot just seconds before the runner touched the orange bag.  Should the runner have been called out?  I was under the impression that the orange bag was for the runners only and the play should have been made to the white bag.

Answer
Hi Sheri,

if there is a force out attempt from the foul side of first base or an errant throw pulling the defense off the base into foul territory the defense and the batter-runner can use either the white or colored portion of the base.

So there are exceptions to the defense using the white and the offense using the colored.

Mark