Vanderbilt was swept for the second time this season as Texas A&M gave it a disappointing plane ride home and bumped it outside the D1 Baseball top 10 for the first time all season.
Here are three quick takes coming out of the weekend.
That's the type of series that raises some serious questions
Vanderbilt has some soul searching to do.
That's a team that's now ranked as the No. 1 team in the country in Baseball America and D1 Baseball's polls and has as difficult of an environment to play in as anyone, but the way in which Vanderbilt lost raises some concerns.
It should always be that way when a team is outscored 36-6 over the course of a weekend. Especially considering that the Commodores did not score on back-to-back days for the first time since 1995.
In a vacuum it makes you wonder if Tim Corbin has the right three starters out there or the right lineup, but it also raises bigger questions.
Where does this team really stand? We know they're good, but can they figure things out despite the schedule not letting up?
All but one weekend will be taken up by a series against a ranked opponent the rest of the way. That includes two sets against top-10 teams.
The one series that isn't against a ranked team is a matchup with Georgia in Athens, the Bulldogs are tied for the league lead in homers and are tied for the lead in average.
Perhaps a series like that paired with a few other bad ones down the line could raise more questions about Vanderbilt's operation as a whole and whether it can keep the Commodores in the mix as an elite team without some changes to its transfer portal and NIL usage.
This team has proven it is good, but it hasn't yet proven to be elite.
The power difference popped up again
The home run difference was obvious this weekend as Texas A&M outhomered Vanderbilt 9-3 on the series. That wasn't necessarily surprising, A&M has hit 71 as a team as opposed to Vanderbilt's 34 on the season.
Vanderbilt is now dead last in the SEC in total homers and is one of just four teams with under 50. Georgia and Tennessee each have over 90. The Commodores have never claimed to build their identity there, though.
"We're not built around the longball," Vanderbilt shortstop Jonathan Vastine said after a win over Auburn. "We can always hit a longball but our offense is around speed, contact and creating havoc all over the place."
It felt like Vanderbilt didn't do what it needed to do outside of the home run this weekend, either.
Perhaps the biggest difference in power that was seen this weekend wasn't literal power, it was starpower. Texas A&M has the Braden Montgomery top-end type guys whereas Vanderbilt doesn't seem to have its usual first-round alpha to lean on.
The margin for error continues to be smaller for this Vanderbilt team than others.
The bright spot; Braden Holcomb.
Holcomb just keeps hitting.
The Vanderbilt left fielder entered last weekend's series against LSU with an average under .100 with just one home run on the season in six starts. Since then, the freshman has raised his average to .233, his on-base percentage to .343 and his slugging percentage to .567 while homering three more times. One of those homers came Sunday against A&M.
The 6-foot-4 freshman has made his case for more playing time to Corbin.
"He's a good outfielder, he handles himself well and at some point he's gonna hit," Corbin said after Vanderbilt's win over MTSU. "He's just more confident at the plate, putting the ball in play, he's doing a good job with two strikes."
That confidence has been felt by Holcomb, as well.
“I just feel like I’m starting to get more comfortable in the box," the Florida native said on Tuesday.
It feels as if Vanderbilt has something with its linebackerish freshman.
