BigWI:
Yes, it's called grayshirting and it's a new thing, something I'd not even heard of until about six months ago.
It is most associated with football. What happens is the player defers entry to college for a half a year, then enrolls for the second semester on scholarship.
The upside for the school and player is that scholarship counts against the following year's total and the player gets the benefit of an extra spring practice without losing any eligibility. Sometimes, the player goes to a JUCO as a part-time student, furthering his maturity in the classroom. You would still have the ability to redshirt, which means you'd essentially have six years to complete college.
The downside is that the player has little of no contact with the program during his wait, and he has to foot any and all expenses during that time. And, perhaps most importantly, he has nothing in writing, according to much of what I've read. So the potential for disaster is there.
I don't think it could be done with baseball for numerous reasons, mostly because baseball season is in the spring. It might even become moot if the so-called five-year scholarship proposals are extended to baseball. But the world is competitive and if somebody figures out a way to make it work in baseball, they'll no doubt try it. So it's just something to know about.