Scoring a Runner From Third: The Read-and-Execute RBI At-Bat
Updated July 14, 2026
There is no easier run in baseball than a runner on third with less than two outs — and no run that good teams strand more often through bad at-bats. The defense has handed the offense a head start: the runner is 90 feet away and only needs the ball put in play correctly. Yet hitters routinely give it back by taking a hero swing, chasing a pitch they can't drive, or hitting the wrong type of ball for the situation. This guide lays out the approach that turns that runner into a run, and points to a drill that builds the habit.
It applies to baseball and softball alike, because the decision — read the defense, change your plan, execute — is the same in both.
The First Read: Where Is the Infield?
Everything starts with the defense's positioning. As Doug Bernier of Pro Baseball Insider explains, the infield depth tells the hitter exactly what kind of contact will score the run:
"If the infield's playing back, the middle is your goal. We try to drive the ball obviously but if we miss, lets hit a nice ground ball up the middle, towards short stop and 2nd base." — Doug Bernier, Pro Baseball Insider (source)
When the infield plays at normal or double-play depth, they have conceded the run. A ground ball up the middle scores it almost every time — it is, as coaches like to say, the easiest RBI in the game. The hitter's job is simply to drive the ball, and if they miss, miss with a hard grounder toward the middle rather than chasing something they can't handle.
When the infield charges, the math flips. Bernier continues:
"If the infield is in – We need to drive the ball. Get the ball in the air...The easiest area to get the ball in the air is going to be your hits between center field and the opposite gap." — Doug Bernier, Pro Baseball Insider (source)
With the infield drawn in, a ground ball is an out at the plate. Now the hitter needs the ball in the air to the outfield, and the biggest, safest target is the center-to-opposite-field gap.
Change the Pitch You Hunt, Not Your Swing
Here is the subtle part that separates good situational hitters from the rest. When a hitter needs the ball in the air, the temptation is to change the swing — drop the back shoulder, uppercut, try to scoop it. That produces weak pop-ups and rollovers, the exact opposite of the goal.
The better adjustment is to change the pitch you look for, not the mechanics you trust. To elevate, hunt a pitch up in the zone, because a higher pitch is the easiest one to lift with a normal, on-plane swing. To stay on the ground up the middle, look for something you can drive back through the box. The swing stays the same; the target and the pitch selection change.
Discipline Is Part of the RBI
A productive RBI at-bat is not a free-swing at-bat. A breaking ball down and away when you need a ball in the air is not your pitch, and chasing it almost always makes weak contact that strands the run. The disciplined hitter takes that pitch — and remember, with a runner on third a walk still keeps the line moving and the run 90 feet away. Expanding the zone to "get the RBI" is how the RBI gets away.
Why You Have to Drill It
None of this is hard to understand. The challenge is doing it automatically, under pressure, when the read has to happen in a half-second. That is why situational at-bats have to be repped in practice — calling the scenario out loud before every pitch trains the brain to read the defense, set a plan, and execute on demand. The drill that does this lives on the member page: the read-and-execute RBI drill randomizes the infield depth so the hitter has to read and reset every pitch, then scores whether the run actually would have scored.
Common Mistakes
- Doing too much — swinging for a homer instead of taking the run the defense is giving.
- Ignoring the infield — hitting a grounder into a drawn-in infield, or a lazy fly with the infield back.
- Changing the swing to lift — uppercutting instead of hunting a higher pitch.
- Expanding the zone — chasing a pitch you can't execute on and rolling over.
- Hitting without a verbal plan — if you can't say the plan before the pitch, you don't have one.
Age-Appropriateness
This is a low-load, decision-based drill with no physical stress, so it suits hitters from roughly 10U through college. Younger players can run the simplest version — "infield back, hit it up the middle on the ground" — while older, more advanced hitters layer in the infield-in air-ball read, pitch selection, and discipline pieces as their game IQ matures.
The Takeaway
Scoring a runner from third with less than two outs is a read, not a swing. Check the infield first: if they're back, a hard ground ball up the middle banks the run; if they're in, hunt a pitch up and drive it into the center-to-oppo gap. Change the pitch you look for, never the swing you trust, and stay disciplined enough to pass on a pitch you can't execute. Rep that read until it's automatic, and you'll stop stranding the easiest run in the game.