Texas Tech 8, Oklahoma St. 3

Saturday, March 16th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) _ Matt Harbin pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his first save of the year and Nick Blankenship homered for the 11th time as Texas Tech beat Oklahoma State 8-3 on Saturday.

The Red Raiders (20-9, 4-4 Big 12) already were up 3-1 when Blankenship homered off Justin Meccage in the top of the seventh.

Meccage allowed seven hits and six runs over four innings.

In the bottom of the seventh, Steve Gooch (3-2) gave up a homer to Oklahoma State's Daylon Monette, his third of the season. Jeff Salazar then hit an RBI-double to right field, bringing the Cowboys (11-5, 0-2) within two at 5-3.

Harbin then came in for Gooch and limited Oklahoma State to just one hit the rest of the way. The Red Raiders added a run in the eighth and two in the ninth.

Oklahoma State's Jimmy Rhodes (1-2) allowed four hits and two runs in four innings.