One half of the World Baseball Classic final is set, with the Americans advancing courtesy of a controversial 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic.
On Monday night, they’ll get their opponent. Italy takes on Venezuela on the other side of the WBC bracket, with both sides seeking their first-ever berth in the competition finale.
The Italians are the owners of a perfect record, besting all five of their foes to take up their spot in the penultimate game of tournament play. They’re led by a handful of Italian-American standouts, including Royals star Vinnie Pasquantino, who mashed three homers to lead Italy past Mexico in its final pool play game.
They’ll get all they can handle out of Venezuela, one of the tournament’s most star-laden sides. Omar Lopez’s side is specked with stardust, with Wilyer Abreu, Luis Arraez and former NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. all showing out en route to a 4-1 record. The Venezuelans posted the win of the tournament one round earlier, striking down defending champion Japan courtesy of a tape-measure Abreu home run.
Keider Montero will take the ball for Venezuela, while Aaron Nola is slated to stand on the perch for Italy. Both lineups are well-equipped to land blows on their adversaries. Montero and Nola will look to blight their dynamism.
The Sporting News is tracking the full box score and stats from Monday’s WBC matchup between Italy and Venezuela. Follow along below.
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC HQ: Live scores | Updated standings | Full TV schedule
Italy vs. Venezuela baseball box score
Italy stats
Hitting
| Order | Player | Position | H-AB | R | HR | RBI | K | BB/HBP |
| 1. | Sam Antonacci | SS | 0-5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2. | Jon Berti | 2B | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3. | Jakob Marsee | CF | 0-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4. | Vinnie Pasquantino | 1B | 0-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 5. | Zach Dezenzo | DH | 2-4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6. | Jac Caglianone | RF | 0-3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7. | Andrew Fischer | 3B | 1-3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 8. | J.J. D’Orazio | C | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 9. | Dante Nori | LF | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Pitching
| Pitcher | IP | H | ER | BB | K | PC-ST |
| Aaron Nola | 4.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 59-39 |
| Michael Lorenzen (L) | 2.2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 46-26 |
| Kyle Nicolas | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13-9 |
| Ron Marinaccio | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8-8 |
MORE: Who has the most WBC championships in history
Venezuela stats
Hitting
| Order | Player | Position | H-AB | R | HR | RBI | K | BB/HBP |
| 1. | Ronald Acuna Jr. | RF | 1-5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2. | Maikel Garcia | 3B | 2-4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3. | Luis Arraez | 1B | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4. | Eugenio Suarez | DH | 1-4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 5. | Ezequiel Tovar | SS | 0-4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6. | Gleyber Torres | 2B | 2-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Andres Gimenez | 2B | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 7. | Wilyer Abreu | LF | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8. | William Contreras | C | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 9. | Jackson Chourio | CF | 1-3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
| Pitcher | IP | H | ER | BB | K | PC-ST |
| Keider Montero | 1.1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 34-14 |
| Ricardo Sanchez | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10-6 |
| Luinder Avila | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22-15 |
| Angel Zerpa | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 13-9 |
| Eduard Bazardo | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9-7 |
| Andres Machado | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9-8 |
| Daniel Palencia (S) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15-11 |
MORE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 2026: