In an unprecedented turn of events, Team Italy defeated Team USA 8-6 on Tuesday night and into the early hours of Wednesday as the clock struck past midnight. The “Dream Team” as they have been known was taken down for the first time ever by the team from Italy and it was in large-part due to the huge day that former Florida Gator Jac Caglianone had.
The 23-year old left-handed hitter reached base all four times he came to the plate against the Americans. He was 2-for-2 with a huge home run, but was also hit by a pitch and walked during the game. He had two RBIs and three runs scored in Italy’s 8-6 win over the United States.
JAC CAGLIANONE CONNECTS! #WORLDBASEBALLCLASSIC pic.twitter.com/HcRDBHLlwV
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 11, 2026
In his first at-bat of the night, Kansas City's right fielder was hit by a pitch and was then driven in on a home run by Sam Antonacci that took a 1-0 game and made it a 3-0 Italy lead.
With Italy up 3-0 in the fourth inning, Kyle Teel walked and then the right fielder from Tampa and the former Gator standout hit a towering home run to right field that really opened the flood gates for Italy and extended their lead to 5-0.
Caglianone was walked during his third plate appearance in the sixth and later driven in on a sacrifice fly by Dante Nori that made it a wide open 7-0 Italy game.
And then in the top of the eighth Caglianone reached for the fourth time on the night, singling on a hard line drive down the right field line that moved J.J. D’Orazio to third.
After Italy’s Tuesday night matchup against the USA, Caglianone is now hitting an impressive .500, with a 1.792 OPS. It’s no secret he carried Italy on his shoulders on Tuesday, along with Teel who was 2-for-2 with two runs scored before leaving with an apparent injury.
Italy’s World Baseball Classic hopes continue from Houston, Texas on Wednesday in the final game of pool play. They take on Mexico at 7:00PM ET.