In other words, if a hitter bunts the ball with the sole purpose of advancing a runner but is still able to reach first base safely, there is no sacrifice bunt. The bunt would be counted as a hit. However, if the batter does not reach first base safely, then we can say that there was a sacrifice bunt. This might seem like a trivial thing to point out, but it's important to remember when discussing this type of play. There are three ways for a batter to get on base when batting lead off: hit, walk, or sacrifice bunt. If a player knows that he cannot beat the pitcher's pitch count, he should consider walking the batter before him so as not to risk the loss of a game due to injury.