REDLANDS, Calif. — Griffin Pieretti led an outpouring of offense for the No. 18 UC Santa Barbara Men's Water Polo team on Friday in Redlands, racking up eight goals and seven assists across two lopsided Gaucho wins. Santa Barbara thumped Occidental, 28-8, in the first action of the day, then handled Fresno Pacific, 27-7, in the afternoon.
 
No. 18 UC SANTA BARBARA 28, OCCIDENTAL 8
Pieretti picked up four goals and a whopping five assists against the Tigers in a game the Gauchos controlled from start to finish. Midway through the first quarter, Santa Barbara went on a 6-0 scoring run, with goals from Sam McKenzie, Danilo Dragovic, McKenzie again, Luke Redoutey, Oliver Sherwood and Tyler Roller, giving the Blue and Gold a 7-2 advantage. From there, they never looked back. Billy Rankin scored in the second quarter, as did McKenzie and Pieretti (twice), with Kyle Rosenblatt denting the twine just five seconds before the horn to give Santa Barbara 12-7 advantage at halftime.
 
The game was effectively over after the third quarter, a period in which the Gauchos out-scored Occidental, 10-0. Kai Ross, Charlie Johnson (twice), Camren Simoncelli, Roller (twice), Rosenblatt, Thomas Colpo, Sherwood and Pieretti were all on the scoresheet in the frame, then Dragovic and Landon Lassahn kicked off the fourth quarter with goals to make it a 13-0 Santa Barbara run overall. The Gauchos only allowed one goal in the entire second half, with Sherwood, Pieretti, Colpo and Simoncelli combining to finish the game with four straight goals for the Gauchos.
 
No. 18 UC SANTA BARBARA 27, FRESNO PACIFIC 7
It was more of the same in game two for the Gauchos, who led Fresno Pacific, 6-2, after the opening quarter. Pieretti was in the goals in that first frame, as were McKenzie, Simoncelli (twice), Sherwood and Roller. Ross and a pair of goals from Lassahn stretched the lead in the second, and Simoncelli scored again before halftime to put Santa Barbara ahead, 10-3, at the break.
 
The third quarter was hectic, with 13 combined goals, nine of which belonged to the Blue and Gold. Dragovic was one of the scorers, Rankin scored twice in a row, Johnson was involved again and Sean O'Brien added his name to the scoresheet as well. Pieretti had a hat-trick in the third quarter alone, and the ever-present Simoncelli popped up again. In the fourth, the Gauchos put the matter to rest by finishing the game on an 8-0 scoring run, not allowing a goal in the final frame. Johnson scored twice in the quarter, as did Dragovic, with Roller, McKenzie, Rankin and Rosenblatt scoring as well.
 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara rounds out their weekend at the Inland Empire Classic with two more games on Saturday, taking on Pomona-Pitzer at 9 a.m. and Concordia Irvine at 2:20 p.m. Both games will take place at Axelrood Pool in Claremont. Fans making the trip to the Inland Empire can get into the games for free, or follow along from anywhere with live stats.