Nearly 27 years ago, Arizona softball was riding a 47-game winning streak, then the longest in NCAA softball history, into a home game against lowly opponent Oregon State.

The Wildcats were 30-0 and had won four of the past six national championships before falling 3-0 to the Beavers and snapping their streak. Arizona was a juggernaut in the sport led by head coach Mike Candrea, not unlike Patty Gasso’s current OU program which has won three consecutive national titles and ended its 71-game winning streak Sunday with a loss to Louisiana, a team with a losing record.

Candrea looks back on the night the Wildcats’ streak ended without much thought these days. For him, it was more about moving on and doing the things his team needed to do to get back to the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

“There's not much thought that goes into it,” Candrea told The Oklahoman this week. “It's part of athletics, and I commend them for the great streak that they had and I always said it's time to start a new one. … It's a sad moment, but I took a different approach.

“I was trying to celebrate it and then try to move on to the next one and start another one. Most of the time in coaching you blow through the victories and then agonize over the defeats and I'd give myself 24 hours to do that and then you're preparing for the next one. That's the nice part about athletics is that there's always another one.”

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Gasso echoed a similar sentiment following the Sooners’ loss, reminding people her team is human. She said her team was mentally and physically exhausted and needed to rest but will be ready to bounce back and prove to the nation they’re still the best team in the country.

OU remained No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll despite dropping to No. 2 below Texas in Monday’s D1Softball poll.

With the opening of its astonishing new stadium, Love’s Field, and all the festivities surrounding it, OU’s players felt pressure not only to perform but to protect the streak. Every team it faces in every venue wants to dethrone Gasso’s team and be remembered as the group that ended it at 71.

“Anytime you get something going like that, there's a little bit of pressure that you don't want it to end,” Candrea said. “But at the end of the day, you can't be scared to lose, you’ve got to be prepared to win. So it's a mindset. I didn't think too much about it. I knew it wasn't gonna last forever. My thought process was well, that was fun. Let's start it again.”

After coaching against Gasso at the WCWS for many years, Candrea is all too familiar with the Sooners’ resiliency and predicts a strong resurgence following the loss. He likened OU’s softball program to UConn and South Carolina’s women’s basketball teams at the time of their peaks.

“Patty has provided great leadership to keep them focused on the task at hand and they're fun to watch because they do a lot of things very well,” Candrea said. “I think that's what people don't realize is it's the little things, it's the paying attention to details. It's a mindset that you have every day and when you get good players that believe in that and feed off one another, then things like this can happen.”

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Being one of the only coaches in the country that can relate to what Gasso’s team is facing following the snapping of such a long streak, Candrea knows the Sooners will be hungrier than ever to dominate the rest of the season and take home their fourth title in a row.

How’d the Wildcats fare after losing to the Beavers? A 3-0 shutout win over No. 3 UCLA. Arizona also went on to win the national championship again.

OU’s (18-1) next game won’t be nearly as tough as it faces Texas A&M Commerce (5-16) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Love’s Field on ESPN+.

“I have no doubt that she’s already on to the next one,” Candrea said, “and doing what she needs to do to prepare the team to move forward in a positive way. I think the fun part about watching Oklahoma, Patty and her program is they’ve had to redefine themselves many times to stay ahead of the game. That’s the marvelous thing, they’ve been able to do things that are not just good, but great.

“They're really fun to watch because there really aren't any weaknesses. It’s hard to get all of the pieces of the puzzle together, it’s harder than it seems and so I tip my hat to her. It’s one of the great athletic achievements in any sport. … She’s been blessed to put together a great staff and a belief in that team that it pays off to do the little things well and it shows.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball primed for another win streak, Arizona's Mike Candrea says