Tennessee softball dominates to sweep Missouri in first SEC series of the season

Tennessee softball started SEC play with a statement.

The No. 8 Lady Vols (22-4, 3-0 SEC) cruised past No. 11 Missouri (22-6, 2-4) with a sweep in their first conference series. They run-ruled the Tigers 9-0 on Friday, won 8-2 on Saturday and shut them out again 4-0 on Sunday.

Tennessee recorded three important ranked wins over the weekend – here's what we learned from the sweep:

Karlyn Pickens is establishing herself as one of the best pitchers in SEC

Sophomore pitcher Karlyn Pickens (12-2) has established herself as one of the best pitchers in the SEC. She threw two shutouts against Missouri, bringing her total to eight this season.

Pickens struck out 11 on Sunday and five on Friday, and her ERA of 0.55 leads the conference. Tennessee coach Karen Weekly said Pickens' growth from her freshman season has been "phenomenal." She's more confident, and the team feeds off it.

Weekly credited pitching coach Megan Rhodes Smith for Pickens' development, especially with pitches outside her fastball. It has allowed them to mix up what Pickens throws more, and Weekly said her fastball was only her third-highest pitched used Friday.

"It's Karlyn buying in," Weekly said. "She's really worked to develop her off-speed, which is really tough for hitters when you're throwing velo at 73-75 (mph), and now here comes an off-speed – a really good off-speed – at about 58 (mph)."

Lady Vols are finding consistency in their offensive depth

Tennessee had six players hit home runs this weekend – including two grand slams – showing it can have the same offensive depth as last season.

Weekly said everyone is settling in and understanding what their roles are. The Lady Vols developed some consistency and didn't miss a beat when senior outfielder Rylie West suffered an injury against Clemson. West, who hit .400 to start the season with six home runs, hasn't played since March 5. But Weekly is hopeful she'll return this weekend against No. 23 South Carolina.

One of the biggest developments was Bella Faw hitting her first two career home runs. The freshman infielder struggled offensively to start the season – she logged only one hit before SEC play – but she broke through against Missouri.

"I think because she's seeing more pitches, then she's able to pick better pitches," Weekly said. "The last thing I want Bella Faw to start thinking is she's got to produce home runs for us. Those are a byproduct of her having the kind of at-bats we want, and those kind of bats will continue to turn the lineup over for us."

Tennessee proved what it's capable of

Weekly wasn't happy with how UT played Saturday, but it showed Weekly just what this team is capable of. They left a lot of at-bats on the table, threw "way too many pitches" and didn't adjust early enough – and they still beat a top-15 opponent by six runs.

Weekly was pleased with her team's maturity after she challenged them going into Sunday, when they had a stronger outing all-around.

"When I look at the things we didn't do, and we won the series, and we won by a pretty good margin – I think this team can really, really be something special," Weekly said Saturday. "But we've got to be more consistent innings one through seven."

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.