Venezuela Advances to First WBC Championship Game After Defeating Italy 4-2

Miami, FL– Italy’s Cinderella story has come to an end in the 2026 World Baseball Classic after losing to Venezuela 4-2. This game marked the first time Italy had reached the semi-finals in their WBC history, but facing Venezuela would not be easy, as Italy entered the game with a 0-5 record against them in WBC action.

Minutes away from first pitch in the semifinal matchup between Venezuela 🇻🇪 and Italy 🇮🇹
This is the first semifinal appearance for Italy in the WBC, tonight’s winner takes on USA in the finals.
Venezuela has Italy’s number with a 5-0 all time record in WBC play. Covering… pic.twitter.com/LvqXYEDXYj

— Alex “Milo” Aguirre (@aguirrethecap33) March 17, 2026

Italy Strikes First

In the bottom of the second, Venezuela’s starting pitcher, Keider Montero, ran into some trouble. After getting Vinnie Pasquantino to ground out for the first out of the inning, Montero gave up a single to Zach Dezenzo. Jac Caglianone and Andrew Fischer followed up by working a walk each to load the bases.

Italy’s patience at the plate continued to pay off when the next batter, J.J. D’Orazio, drew a third consecutive walk against Montero to bring Dezenzo for the first run of the ballgame. Montero’s night on the mound was over, and Venezuela’s manager, Omar Lopez, brought in left-hander Ricardo Sanchez out of the bullpen.

Team Italy is on the board first in this semifinal matchup!#WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/nL05TVdgj0

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 17, 2026

Venezuela is on the Board

Italy scratched across two runs early on and must have felt in good shape with their ace, Aaron Nola, on the mound. He continued his dominance on the mound in this WBC, throwing four innings on one-run ball, surrendering four hits, and striking out three. As mentioned, he did give up one run in his outing, and that was in the top of the fourth when Eugenio Suárez got Venezuela on the board with a solo home run.

Nola completed the fourth inning, which capped off an impressive run in this year’s WBC. The Phillies starter threw nine innings, striking out eight with a 1.00 ERA. The only run he gave up was the home run to Suarez.

GENOOO!

Eugenio Suárez has Team Venezuela on the board 💪 pic.twitter.com/1RDLCG972G

— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 17, 2026

Venezuela Breaks Through in the Seventh

The next pitcher for Italy after Nola’s four innings was Michael Lorenzen. The right-hander threw a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, but it’s hard to keep a lineup like Venezuela’s to one run all game. In the top of the seventh, Gleyber Torres led off with a walk. Andres Gimenez pinch ran for Torres.

WBC Championship

About Post Author

Alex Aguirre

I’m Alejandro “Alex” Aguirre. I’m from Miami, Florida born and raised. I graduated from the University of Florida in 2019 where I received my Master of Arts in Mass Communication and Journalism and in 2017, I received my Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts from Florida International University. When I’m away from covering sports, I enjoy traveling with my friends and family, going to local breweries, or playing NBA 2K and Warzone.

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