Italy's Cinderella story continues as they advance to World Baseball Classic semi-finals

[p]After upsetting the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/usa/dSweSEc8/"]United States[/a], dominating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mexico/ptt8Lj5l/"]Mexico[/a], and now beating [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/puerto-rico/v7R43VK7/"]Puerto Rico[/a], their incredible story continues. They'll be awaiting the winner between [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/japan/vuZGJUZ0/"]Japan[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/venezuela/AVsaRYCE/"]Venezuela[/a], who face off tonight.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/italy/Y1YKIlk7/"]Italy[/a] put up eight runs on eight hits, one each from eight of their nine batters, as they continue to be the hottest bats in the tournament behind the powerhouse of the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/dominican-republic/tAGs4ije/"]Dominican Republic[/a], who will face the USA in the semi-finals on the other side of the bracket. [/p][embed guid="782214e9-fb90-4709-8c17-65f6c574b4e5" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2032955062641672404?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][h2]Recap and highlights[/h2][p]The first inning was a wild start for both teams. [/p][p][b]Puerto Rico's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/castro-willi/WUCHeE7R/"]Willi Castro[/a] sent one out of the park to make it 1-0 on the fourth pitch of the game, sending the fans in Houston into a frenzy. [/b][/p][embed guid="08be6bff-dca5-46c9-9897-0a95a9229421" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z3tjePnIfU" social-type="youtube" /][p]But the Italians wouldn't take long to respond at all, as they got to work right away in the bottom half of the inning. [/p][p][b]Italy would score four of their eight runs in the bottom of the first to make it 4-1, with RBIs coming from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pasquantino-vinnie/tnCR4tAs/"]Vinnie Pasquantino[/a] (2), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/canzone-dominic/Krzrgo08/"]Dominic Canzone[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/caglianone-jac/WzXBEOtR/"]Jac Caglianone[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/d-orazio-javier/dEzEcXWt/"]J.J. D'Orazio[/a].[/b][/p][embed guid="36a5155d-2691-4e18-a33b-4b902fd78020" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UejVcB1CjTc" social-type="youtube" /][p][b]During the second inning, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/maldonado-martin/hhmxBauR/"]Martin Maldonado[/a], who might've just played in his final game ever for Puerto Rico, brought in a run to clash the lead in half 4-2. [/b][/p][p]Italy's Caglianone had a chance to really open up the lead with bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the second, but would go down on three strikes. [/p][p]The third inning would be no different for the Italians. Following a 1-2-3 top half from Puerto Rico, Italy's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonacci-samuel/pEaDFk7U/"]Sam Antonacci[/a] failed to bring home a run from second with two outs, heading into a fourth inning where Italy would quadruple their lead.[/p][p][b]With bases loaded and two outs, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fischer-andrew/bmE5uXDs/"]Andrew Fischer[/a] would launch what looked to be a home run, but due to a fan interference reaching over the wall to catch the ball, it was ruled a double, bringing in two runs to make it 6-2. [/b][/p][p]But the damage wouldn't stop there. [/p][p][b]J.J. D'Orazio would hit a bases-clearing double that would put Italy up 8-2, proving to be too much of a hill for Puerto Rico to climb in the end.[/b][/p][embed guid="4b7190d2-6b06-41fa-9e39-1149a934e7a1" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2032924475432358302?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]After nothing going in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, Puerto Rico showed signs of life and began to start a nail-biting rally. [/p][p][b]In the top of the eighth, with bases loaded and no outs, Puerto Rico traded their third run of the game for the first out, making it 8-3. [/b][/p][p][b]Italy relief pitcher [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/la-sorsa-joe/tAGmjJj5/"]Joe La Sorsa[/a] would beem [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/torres-bryan/SUYIzfZn/"]Bryan Torres[/a] to load the bases again. He'd then throw a wild pitch, scoring the runner from third, making it 8-4 with runs on second and third with one out. [/b][/p][p][b]Puerto Rico's backup catcher, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vazquez-christian/WpRgrLjf/"]Christian Vázquez[/a], who came in for Maldonado, would take advantage with a two-run single, clearing the bases to make it 8-6 before Italy finally got themselves out of the top half of the eighth. [/b][/p][embed guid="0d5c0dda-fd61-4227-9aec-38ae08b97828" url="https://x.com/WBCBaseball/status/2032943240320520287?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Italy loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom half of the innings, but couldn't bring home any more insurance runs. But that's all they needed to secure the win. [/p][p]Puerto Rico couldn't get anything going in the top of the ninth, eventually ending their run at the 2026 World Baseball Classic. [/p][embed guid="dbc01825-68dc-4bbf-9159-1c0697998f98" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQQ5KX-uICk" social-type="youtube" /]