In as thrilling an athletic contest as has ever seen on Soldiers Field, Lowell softballers defeated Kirkland yesterday afternoon by a score of 5 to 4 on Ralph Murphy's smart single in the seventh and last inning with two men on base, two outs, and two called strikes.

When Bill Shirk scored from third, making the score 4 to 4, and when Johnny Weston tallied from second, making it 5 to 4, the Straus Trophy, emblematic of the House athletic championship was whisked back to Lowell House for the third time in the four years of its existence.

Mudge vs. Murphy

Observers agreed that scarcely ever was there a more crucial pitch as Deacon hurler Dick Mudge tossed the fatal offering to Murphy. "Maybe I had my eyes closed," the Bellboy batsman said lost night. "I thought I was sighting along the bat."

Previous to Murphy's feat, Weston's double had scored two men brining the score within reaching distance of a Lowell victory. The crowd was tense as Murphy stepped to the plate; even the Deacon and Bellboy stands were silent. Gilbert the king snake, Lowell mascot, nervously shed half his skin as two strikes were called. Then, contradicting the Casey legend, Murphy connected, and the Straus trophy was cinched.

The game was featured by a crowd of 70, and rival musical organizations from the two Houses, the Bellboy virtuosos being led by Ned Skinner, and the Deacon jitterbugs by Red Lowman. The Lowell band patriotically spelled out numerous "L's," but the Kirkland musicians defaulted here, a little shaky

The Summary: LOWELL   ab  r  h Weston, lf.  4  1  1 Crane, ss.  4  0  0 Murphy, cf.  4  0  1 Doering, 1b  2  0  0 Levin, p.  2  0  1 Story, c.  3  0  0 Dampeer, 3b.  2  2  0 Stubbs, sc.  1  1  1 Knowlton, 2b.  1  0  0 Finn (*)  0  0  0 Swifts  0  0  0 Shirk, (***)  0  1  0 Kelley, rf.  1  0  0 Mendel, rf.  0  0  0 Viets (**)  1  0  0   25  5  4 KIRKLAND   ab  r  h King c.  3  1  1 Marks p.  4  1  1 Diegel rf., sc.  4  0  1 Mudge, sc. p.  3  0  1 Evers, 2b.  3  0  0 Smith, ss.  3  0  1 Snyder, 1b.  3  0  1 Silverberg, lf.  2  1  1 O'Kelley, 3b  3  0  0 Seder, cf.  3  1  2 Barker, rf.  0  0  0 (*) batted for Knowlton in the fifth inning. (**) batted for Mendel in the third inning. (***) batted for Swift in 7th

Errors: Dampeer, Swift, Mendel, Snyder, Evers. Runs batted in; Stubbs, Weston 2, Murphy 2, Marks, Diegel 2. Two base hits: Weston, Marks, Mudge. Left on bases: Lowell 8, Kirkland 8. Bases on balls: off Levin 2, off Marks 8, off Mudge 0. Struck out: by Levin 1. Winning Pitcher: Levin. Losing Pitcher: Mudge. Umpire: Simonds. Runs by innings  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  totals Lowell  0  0  0  0  1  0  4  5 Kirkland  0  0  4  0  0  0  0  4