Stick a pitchfork in the Northwestern men’s tennis team — it’s done.

Down on “The Farm” in Palo Alto, Calif., the Wildcats lost 4-0 to Stanford Saturday, ending their short-lived NCAA tournament run.

For the second straight year, NU came into the first-round match a considerable underdog. And for the second straight year, the team was outplayed, swept and sent home for the summer.

The Cats came into the contest realizing that only a perfect match would put them in position for an upset. While NU was far from perfect, coach Paul Torricelli said his team played like they deserved a spot in the tournament.

“We competed well all-around,” Torricelli said. “We played against the best team in the country and despite the loss we now have something to shoot for.”

The No. 1 Cardinal (23-1) swept the No. 54 Wildcats (11-12) by taking the doubles point and the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 singles matches. The last three singles matches were abandoned when Stanford clinched with the win at No. 4.

Stanford’s victory over NU was its 19th tournament win in 20 chances. The Cardinal won after a three-week layoff from dual matches and came back Sunday to defeat Auburn in the second round.

NU put up a fight in doubles, taking a combined 10 games from one of the toughest and deepest teams in the country. At No. 1 doubles, Brad Erickson and Joost Hol came up short in their quest to upset the nation’s top pair, Alex Kim and Geoff Abrams.

But the Cats duo, ranked No. 42 in the country, proved themselves worthy of the competition with an 8-4 loss.

And the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams both lost 8-3, giving Stanford the doubles point.

Josh Axler and Jamie Sahara each won a singles set for NU in their suspended matches and Jackie Jenkins took his opponent to a first-set tiebreak before losing the set. But that was all the Cats could muster against the favored Cardinal singles players.

Stanford’s Kim ran Erickson off the court at No. 1 singles. The Cardinal junior used his biggest asset — speed — to secure a 6-0, 6-2 straight-set victory to start things off at singles.

“Brad got outplayed by Kim,” Torricelli said. “Kim was too good and too fast. Brad had nothing to beat him with.”

Hol had a disappointing 6-3, 6-3 loss at No. 2 singles to Abrams, his hometown opponent. And Jenkins fell short in straight sets to Scotty Scott at No. 4.

Overall, Torricelli said he was pleased with his team’s singles play and its composure.

With three freshmen and two sophomores in the tournament lineup, the Cats had little NCAA experience going up against the veteran Cardinal team. But playing on Stanford’s home court with fans clad in school colors didn’t shake NU’s nerves.

“They played calm,” Torricelli said. “They’re smart guys.”

But the Cats need more than good composure to compete with teams like Stanford, Torricelli said. The pounding once again made it clear to the coach that his team needs to beef up its lineup in order to return to powerhouse status of years ago.

“We need to add players and improve individually,” Torricelli said. “Clearly we need help to get us back.”