Ah, that’s right. She quickly realized what briefly short-circuited her thoughts: it was indeed the voice of her mom, Akemi, coming through a phone speaker. Someone was playing one of the ubiquitous Locked On podcast shows, which once carried Akemi’s voice in each episode’s introduction.

Akemi, once a Seattle Seahawks sideline reporter and TV presence on Seattle’s NBC affiliate, gave her voice to the Locked On Sports podcast network started by her husband, and Arden’s father, David Locke — the longtime Utah sports radio host and now Utah Jazz play-by-play man since 2009.

But now, in 2026, it’s time for Louchheim to take the mic and make her own mark. She’s the new play-by-play voice for Ogden Raptors baseball home games, getting her first of nearly 50 regular-season games on Tuesday night when the club holds its home opener at Lindquist Field.

“I’m hoping to make a name for myself that people might recognize for a different reason … because hopefully they respect what I’ve done,” she said.

BRETT HEIN, Standard-Examiner

Broadcasting is the family business, yes, but Louchheim put in her work to get the opportunity. In a competitive major, she’s logged more than 50 games in her time as a sports media and communication student at Nebraska between the university’s radio station, which calls high school sports in the area, and the school’s video productions of Nebraska games on Big Ten Plus.

“When her dad called and asked me if I knew of any teams hiring, I said ‘send me a demo reel,'” Raptors team president Dave Baggott said in April. “I knew within 30 seconds that I needed to be selfish and keep Arden for ourselves. She will be a major sports team broadcaster very soon.”

“I want to be good enough at what I’m doing to deserve everything I get,” Louchheim said. “But I understand that my dad’s part of the story … the world is built on connections.”

When the three-time high school state champion at Rowland Hall in Salt Lake City was looking at colleges to continue playing golf, the broadcasting component was a major influence when deciding to go to Nebraska.

“You can’t play sports forever. I’m very lucky to be in the small percentage who got to go (Division I) … I knew I wanted to wake up every day and be involved in sports, be at the ballpark or in a stadium … sports broadcasting is a great way to do that,” Louchheim said. “Both my parents showed me it’s a feasible way to make a living and keep living a life that’s surrounded by sports.”

Louchheim signed up for as many games as she could while also competing for the Cornhuskers’ women’s golf team. Of about 12 golfers, the top five or six qualifiers would represent Nebraska each week in tournaments. A disappointing 2025-26 season, she said, meant she missed the cut to play more often than she’d liked.

But, that meant more opportunities to put on the headset and call games — even if it meant a busy schedule with an early morning wake-up, a workout, class, golf practice and then changing clothes in her car to arrive at whatever field, court or stadium to get in the broadcast booth. A “blessing in disguise,” perhaps, she said: pro golf was once her dream, but she’s begun to see broadcasting as a real future.

She graduates from Nebraska in August and is in the transfer portal to finish up to two years of eligibility in women’s golf, but now feels like perhaps broadcasting is taking over her focus.

“My sophomore year is the first time I called a game on air and that is when I realized I had a passion for it,” Louchheim said. “My dad and I, when I was like 5 or 6, we’d be in his office and call fake games together and I always heard what he does. … College made me realize it was something I could do.”

Her first time on the mic? A high school football game. She called the first-ever win for Standing Bear High, a new school in Lincoln.

“I was bad,” she laughed. “Like everyone is their first time.”

Since then, she’s called prep football and basketball games, and basketball contests for Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball as play-by-play, color, and sideline reporting.

But fast forward to five months ago, and all of her worlds collided.

Utah and Nebraska were selected to face off in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 31, 2025: her soon-to-be alma mater playing her hometown university. Rowland Hall, after all, is basically in the shadows of Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Louchheim started asking around to see if there was an available booth for her to call the game for Nebraska’s student radio station. But availability for a possible partner or color commentator was difficult during winter break. She asked if her dad could join her; the answer was yes, and he somehow had an opening in the NBA schedule to get to Vegas and make it happen.

“Probably the coolest moment of my life,” she said. “I’ve won a couple golf tournaments and things like that, but that game ran so much deeper of just something I’ve watched him do my whole life, and now getting to step in and do that … that game was incredible just to do it alongside him. He was giving me advice during the breaks … it’s been 100% positive of having him be my dad and doing the job I now want to do.”

She’s never worked as a broadcaster in Utah and knows it’s new territory, coming back home where her father has been on the radio for decades.

“I’m the one choosing to go in the exact same industry and I’m excited about it. I’m really proud to be his daughter,” Louchheim said.

But now that breadth of experience gets a laser focus. Louchheim is calling one sport, one league, one team: it’s Ogden Raptors baseball, every night.

“You get to do it every night … I’m excited to call as many games as I get to this summer,” she said.

Her disappointing golf season meant Louchheim’s better broadcasting availability, despite the busy schedule to make it happen, came in the spring, so she’s called more baseball and softball than anything at Nebraska, she says.

“It’s the hardest sport to call because there’s a lot of dead time … you’re intertwining stories throughout the broadcast, teaching your listeners about the people, where they came from and how they ended up here,” Louchheim said. “You’re telling the story of the season, the story of that game, the story of the team. It’s probably the best thing you can do as a young broadcaster because it’s so hard.

“You have to lean on your prep and hold the viewers’ or listeners’ attention,” she continued. “I’m definitely nervous … but I’m just really excited to improve every night.”

Louchheim has been in Ogden for about two weeks preparing for the season along with the rest of the staff. She didn’t spend much time in Ogden growing up but says she’s already felt a sense of community.

“I was really impressed by the community here in Ogden … everyone is so connected,” Louchheim said. “We had FanFest and a good amount of people came out, which I was really impressed by. … It’s really cool to feel like I’m part of something that means something to people.

“And the stage of baseball these guys are at, playing for their careers on a day-to-day basis … I’m excited to cover that. I feel like I have a good perspective on that because I know how hard it is to make it (as an athlete).”

Ogden and the Pioneer League have moved streaming hosts to Home Team Network, a more affordable option than previous seasons on Flo Sports, to access any PBL game (including the Raptors, home and away) this season. That’s where Louchheim’s calls of Raptors home games will be heard for the 2026 campaign.

Accessed through PBLnetwork.com, sign-up on the site lists a yearly subscription for $54.99, which is one-third the price of yearly subscriptions on Flo (which also offered a monthly rate of $29.99).