Japan dominates Italy, advances to WBC semifinals
Gene Wang / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Japan remained undefeated and advanced to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic on Thursday after a decisive 9-3 victory over Italy.
Shohei Ohtani started the contest, allowing four hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts across 4 2/3 innings.
The Japanese sensation was also 1-for-4 with two runs scored. He was outshined by teammate Kazuma Okamoto, who had a homer and five RBIs.
Japan is the only nation to reach the semifinals in all five WBC tournaments.
It will meet the winner of Puerto Rico-Mexico in Miami on March 20.