Vinnie Pasquantino made history on Wednesday in Houston, recording the first three-homer game in the 20-year history of the World Baseball Classic as Italy defeated Mexico 9-1. The win secured first place in Pool B for Italy and helped the United States advance to the quarterfinals.

Pasquantino, who was 0-for-12 entering the game, launched three homers to lead off the second, sixth, and eighth innings, giving him a remarkable turnaround performance. Jon Berti also homered for Italy, sending a pitch over the wall to lead off the fourth inning. Italy collected a total of 10 hits to join the United States in advancing to the next round.

Italy will face Pool A second-place team Puerto Rico on Saturday, while the United States takes on Pool A first-place team Canada on Friday. Both games will be played in Houston.

Other key contributions for Italy included a two-run single by Jakob Marsee, an RBI double from Andrew Fischer, and a sacrifice bunt by Dante Nori that allowed Jac Caglianone to score in the fifth inning.

Italy’s pitching was equally impressive, with Aaron Nola scattering four hits, striking out five, and pitching five scoreless innings to eliminate Mexico from the tournament.

Pasquantino opened the scoring with a leadoff homer off Chicago Cubs pitcher Javier Assad. He added a second blast in the sixth inning off Daniel Duarte and completed the hat trick with another home run off Robert Garcia in the eighth. Berti’s fourth-inning homer gave Italy an early 2-0 lead.

Italy extended its lead in the fifth inning when Caglianone walked, stole second, advanced to third on J.J. D’Orazio’s single, and scored on Nori’s bunt. Marsee’s two-run single in the same inning pushed Italy’s advantage to 5-0. Sam Antonacci added another run in the seventh after Mexico center fielder Alek Thomas misplayed a single by Berti. Mexico’s only run came later in the seventh when Thomas’ grounder scored Joey Meneses.

With this dominant showing, Italy not only made history but also demonstrated its strength heading into the quarterfinals.

—Field Level Media/Reuters