The gravitational force on a baseball??? I do not get it???

The gravitational force on a baseball is "-Fgj". A pitcher throws the baseball with veocity "vi" by uniformly accelerating it straight forward horizontally for a time interval delta(t) = t - 0=t. If the ball starts from rest, (a) through what distance does it accelerate before its release? (b) What force does the pitcher exert on the ball?